Wolverine meets his Red Goddess
by Nikola87
Summary: This is my take on Jean and Logan in X-Men: Apocalypse. Spoiler warnings for those who haven't seen the movie yet. :)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Well, that was fun!" said Scott while driving back to the X Mansion. "Isn't it great when you relax for once instead of trying to maintain control of everything?" Jean said teasing Scott. "Says someone who is constantly worrying about bringing the whole school down," Scott teased back. Jean laughed and lightly nudged him. This is the most fun she's had in months and judging by the faces of Scott and Kurt, same went for them. Jubilee as well, but she always seemed happy.  
"I'm surprised no one called me "a freak"," Kurt said. "Is that usually what people call you?" Jubilee asked. "No, only when I'm in large crowds. It's not every day you see someone blue."  
Scott grinned when he saw an opportunity to take a jab at Nightcrawler. "THAT's the reason they think you're a freak?"  
"Scott!" Jean nudged him a little harder this time, but Kurt seemed to have taken no offense at all and just smiled.  
There was a shock waiting for them when they pulled into the driveway. "W-what in the world?!" Jubilee said. The whole school was shattered. There must have been an explosion.  
"Alex!" shouted Scott as he ran towards the school. Jean, Kurt, and Jubilee followed him.  
"Does anybody know what happened?" Jean asked a group of terrified kids. "I came here to see the professor when I saw the school exploding. I got everybody out to safety," said silver-haired Pietro. Jean could feel the fear and anxiety of everyone around her. Their emotions were so strong. She was unable to shake them off, slowly letting anxiety creep in her mind. "You okay?" Kurt asked. She didn't answer; she was too focused to take control of her own emotions. "Jean?" Kurt put his hands on Jean's shoulders and gently shook her. Jean snapped out of it and managed to give a short answer, "I'm fine."  
"Alex! Where is Alex?" Scott shouted. "Is he okay?" Raven worried. "I'm pretty sure I got everybody," Pietro said.  
Hank was trying to recall what happened before the blast. He pictured where everybody stood. And then it hit him. "Alex was closest to the explosion…"  
Jean could feel Scott's pain as he kneeled before a pile of ruins where his brother probably lay. He tried to hold it together but the tears eventually ran down his cheeks. Jean felt a sharp pain in her heart. Just like the one Scott felt. Teary-eyed, she kneeled beside him and squeezed his shoulder to give him a bit of comfort.  
They didn't have much time to grieve. All of a sudden, all these men dressed in uniforms showed up. Jean, Kurt, and Scott managed to hide behind the stuff that used to make the walls of the school. Raven, Hank, Pietro, and Moira didn't have time to hide and got taken into one of the aircrafts. "We gotta go with them," Jean thought. She had to think and quickly. Maybe Kurt was fast enough to bring them to the aircraft before they take off. "Can you take us all up there?" she asked Kurt. "Yes, but is that a good idea? They'll see us!" Kurt said, concerned. "They won't see us," she said reassuringly. Kurt grabbed Jean and Scott's hands and brought them up on the plane. Jean got into the minds of the uniformed men and prevented them from seeing them. "See?" Jean grinned. Kurt pouted his lips to signal how impressed he was.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

They heard their friends being dragged away, but they couldn't get out of the plane yet, there were too many men, too many minds for Jean to control.  
They waited for quite a while before being able to get out of there. Kurt tried to take them quickly through all the corridors and security cameras. "We need to hurry…" Scott said impatiently. "I'm 'hurrying' as fast as I can!" Kurt said. Scott was about to ask Jean if she can sense them when they heard the professor's voice. He talked about the destruction of the world and getting rid of the "unfit". Whoever made professor say that had to be stopped, and in order to stop him, they needed to find their friends, fast!  
Jean heard another message. It was meant just for her. "Help me, Jean…" pleaded professor. "The professor just spoke to me," Jean said. "I think he spoke to all of us…" Scott replied. "No, he sent me another message. Privately. I know where he is!"  
They were trying to be so quick, they weren't careful enough. They got spotted. Kurt held Jean and Scott and carried them through another corridor. "How long can we keep doing this? I can run for a long time, but sooner or later, they'll trap us in here," Kurt thought.  
They heard a growl coming out of a metal cell. "What is that? Some kind of animal?" Scott asked. "It's a man," Jean said. "Who is he?" Kurt asked. "A part of him's been taken away. They turned him into some kind of weapon," replied Jean. She got an idea. They could use their own weapon against them. Jean telekinetically opened the door.  
The mighty animal stepped out of the room he was trapped in for so long. He was wearing nothing but pants, a helmet, and objects inserted in his ribs. He had no memories of who he was, no sense of his own identity, the only thing he had was his desire to kill.  
He unleashed the fury on the men that held him captive, the monsters that tortured and experimented on him, stabbing and tearing them apart with his sharp claws, leaving blood graffiti on the walls. Some of them were foolish enough to shoot at him instead of running as far away as possible. He healed fast and continued to kill everyone in his path. Their own weapon was out of control, attacking its creators.  
Jean, Scott, and Kurt followed the blood trail. Carefully approaching every corner just in case "the weapon" was there waiting for them. Jean slowed down, sensing he was near. It didn't take long to find him. There he was, the definition of primal, so muscular and animalistic. He was covered with the blood of his enemies. Their enemies.  
Scott was taking his glasses off, ready to blast him when Jean stepped in. "Scott, don't!"  
He was terrifying, and dangerous, she saw for herself, but for some reason she wasn't scared of him. "I can help you," Jean said telepathically. She started walking towards him, slowly, and he immediately retracted his claws. "Good, that's good," Jean thought. "Jean!" Scott called out when she was getting dangerously close to him.  
The man was looking at her as if she were a fiery goddess. She was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. His breathing quickened, his big, muscular chest was rising up and down. Animalistic as he was, there was something gorgeous about him. At least to her.  
Jean raised her hands and reached for his helmet, but he reflexively pushed her hand away. It made Jean flinch. She took a deep breath and tried again, raising her hands very slowly. This time he let her get close. Jean's breathing quickened, her heartbeat matched his. She took the helmet off his head and threw it to the ground. Then she gently placed her hands to either side of his head. He closed his eyes, fully sensing her gentle touch, her beautifully soft hands bringing him comfort. He felt at peace. Maybe for the first time in his life.  
Jean reached deep inside his mind. She was going to give him back his memories, as many as she could possibly find. Then she saw it, felt it. The struggle of taming the animal, suppressing his urges, trying to be like a normal human being, the death of his loved ones that he couldn't prevent, the experiments, torture, suppression of the humanity in him. She felt his pain of opening up to people only to be violently taken from him. "Poor, poor man," she thought. James Howlett. Wolverine. "Logan…" she told him telepathically.  
Logan opened his eyes. He was taking in every memory, all the pain but all the good stuff too. This fiery goddess gave him back his memories, his identity. He never stopped looking at her as he was removing objects from his body that were inserted in him for the experiment purposes. He would memorize her face; he would never forget the woman that gave him peace. He looked at Nightcrawler and Scott, then he looked at Jean one last time, and ran away from that terrible place. "What did you do to him?" Scott asked. "I reached into his past and gave him back a few moments. As many as I could reach," she said as she watched Logan run away.  
"That's the last we've seen of this guy," Scott said. Jean hoped it wasn't.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It's been a few years since the X-Men defeated Apocalypse. When Charles managed to persuade Eric to join him once again, after showing him the goodness Eric thought he no longer had. Jean remembered like it was yesterday when professor asked her to help him defeat Apocalypse. It was the first time she unleashed her powers, completely. She was terrified of what that might do to the people she cared about. Even Magneto thought that it was too great of a power for a young girl to control. She sensed it when he looked at her when they were telekinetically rebuilding the school for talented youngsters. But Jean managed to keep it under control, with professor's help, of course.  
Jean was in a danger room practicing with Scott and Kurt. Jean and Scott truly cared for each other, but that didn't help fix their on and off relationship. Scott had a hard time opening up and Jean didn't want to intrude in his mind just to see how he felt. But they were good friends now.  
"One more round with the Sentinels, and we'll go get some lunch, what do you say?" Scott asked. "Sounds like a plan!" Kurt said.  
Jean frowned, trying to listen to something. "What is it?" Kurt asked her.  
"Do you hear it? Sounds like people arguing," Jean said.  
"I hear something…it's coming from the hallway," Scott said.  
As they were getting closer, Jean sensed a mind she never sensed at the school before. That mind was familiar. Who was the brave mind, foolish enough to argue with the X-Men?

"Storm, what's going on? And who is…this?" Hank asked puzzled. "I found him sniffing around the mansion. He never explained why he came here," Ororo said. Hank looked the strange man up and down. He seemed strong, tough, and emotional. He would be a fine edition to the team, if not for the emotional part. "Hello, sir, who are you and what are you doing here?" Hank asked politely with a smile on his face. "I'm lookin' for the professor," the man said.  
"Okay, who are you and why do you want to speak with him?"  
"Can I just wait for him here, don't feel like talkin' to ya right now."  
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You were sneaking in with your claws out, that doesn't seem very friendly," Hank said, tracing the man's shiny claws with his eyes.  
"Yeah, well, ya don't look all warm 'n' fuzzy yaself…"  
Ororo couldn't help but chuckle a bit. She knew what the expression meant, but Hank actually did look warm and fuzzy. Literally.  
"At least tell me your name," Hank said.  
"Logan!" Jean blurted out awestruck. It was the man she met at that strange facility. She gave him back his memories that haunted her for all these years. Not a day passed by without her thinking about him. "How was he doing and will I meet him again?" And here he was.  
"Red…" was the only think Logan could say. He never knew her name, but he remembered the fiery red hair. His red goddess.  
"Observant, that one," Hank said sarcastically, looking at Jean's long hair.  
Logan recalled the day they met. How she walked up to him, unafraid. How she touched his temples, giving him back his past. He memorized her face perfectly in case they would never meet again. But here they were. "She remembered my name. After all this time. My red goddess. Hope she can't hear that…" he thought.  
"Do you know him?" Ororo asked. "I…um…ah…" Jean stuttered. "We met him that time when Apocalypse kidnapped the professor," Scott answered for Jean. Kurt nodded in agreement. "So he's harmless?" Hank asked. Scott and Kurt looked at each other, trying very hard not to laugh. This "manimal" was anything but harmless. "He won't hurt us." Jean managed to say. "Okay then, LOGAN," Hank put an emphasis on his name, "I am Hank and this is Ororo. We also go by Beast and Storm. Professor will be here shortly," he added. Logan was barely able to break eye contact with Jean, but he did so for a little while to nod at Hank.  
"Come on, let's go. They probably want to catch up," Ororo whispered. Hank agreed and they left together.  
"Hi Logan, do you remember me?" Kurt asked. Logan studied him a little.  
"Oh yeah, the blue guy with a tail…"  
"I'm Kurt, but I go by Nightcrawler!"  
"Fits ya well," Logan admitted.  
"My name is Scott," Scott said coldly. He didn't like how Logan was looking at her. Or how she was looking at him for that matter. Logan remembered him as well. He seemed like he was about to hurt him before Jean stepped in. Well, he was about to TRY to hurt him before Jean stepped in. "Logan," he introduced himself to him.  
Kurt saw the tension between them. Some serious tension. He elbowed Scott and said, "Perhaps we should go as well..." Scott reluctantly agreed. He didn't want to leave Jean alone with him, but he didn't want to stay and witness whatever the hell was going on between her and this man, either. Was this why they couldn't make their relationship work? Was she thinking about Logan ever since? He obviously thought of her, the way he was looking at her. Scott knew that look. He would have had the same one if it weren't for the glasses shielding everyone from his powers.  
"Yeah, let's go. See you later," Scott said. "Yes, see you soon, guys!" Jean said. Kurt waved them goodbye, and Logan awkwardly waved back.  
Jean wasn't sure how to behave. They only met once yet she knew everything about him. Or as much as he did. And he knew absolutely nothing about her. She wondered what he was thinking but she didn't want to force herself into his mind. She's already done too much of it. The silence dragged on. "This is ridiculous, just introduce yourself!" Jean thought.  
"Hello Logan, my name is Jean," she said softly.  
"Nice to meet ya, Jean," Logan said as they shook hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Do ya still remember? The memories…" Logan said.  
"Yes, all of them," Jean said.  
"Thank you for giving them back to me."  
"You're welcome. I'm glad I was able to help," Jean smiled. "So how do you know the professor?" she continued. "He found me when I was in a bad place. He told me he could use someone like me and that he would help me find my purpose in life."  
"And then you came here?"  
"No, first I told him to go f…well, let's say I turned him down," he said with a guilty smile.  
Jean laughed. "What made you change your mind?" she asked.  
"I have a high regard for telepaths," he said boldly, making her blush.  
Logan felt like he knew her before, but she wasn't anywhere in his memories that got returned to him. Perhaps she couldn't reach all of them at the time?  
"Well, Red, ya know all 'bout me and I know nothin' 'bout ya," Logan said.  
"Alright, what would you like to know?" Jean said.  
"Anythin'. Whateva ya feel like tellin' me."  
"Okay, let's see… I am telekinetic. I can move any objects anywhere I please. It came of use when the school exploded and I helped rebuild it. That was shortly before we met. Well, the explosion was shortly before we met, we rebuilt it afterwards…" Jean rambled. Her awkwardness made Logan smile. He wanted to squeeze her arm and tell her it's alright, she could relax, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to control himself so close to her. Her scent intoxicating, and she was just so damn beautiful.  
"And then there's telepathy. Professor had to block it from me for a while." Jean said.  
"Why's that?"  
"At a very young age, my good friend got hit by a car right in front of me. Our minds linked when she was dying. I tried to bring her back but instead I ended up going with her. I was in a coma for some time…" It still pained her to talk about it, Logan could tell. "I want to hold her, comfort her…" he thought.  
"But now I can control it much better, as you see," Jean tried to return to a happier subject.  
"I sure do. So what made ya come to that godforsaken place when we met?"  
"They kidnapped our friends. You already met one of them – the fuzzy Hank. We got spotted and we had to hurry. I sensed you in one of the rooms and I let you out."  
"So ya used me to get rid of them bastards, huh?" Logan joked.  
"Yes, I suppose we used you…I'm sorry!"  
"Anytime, Red," he winked. "What happened next?"  
"After I gave you back your memories, we got our friends and hurried to get to the professor. He was a prisoner of Apocalypse. It took eight of us to stop him from destroying the world. We could have used you some more, actually," Jean smiled.  
"Sorry, I wasn't in a good place at the time…or most of my life, really..."  
"That was the first time I truly unleashed my powers," Jean recalled. "Professor called for me when he was battling Apocalypse in his mind. He asked me for help, he told me to unleash my powers. I was scared, not only of Apocalypse, but of my own powers. I wasn't sure I'd be able to stop it from hurting everyone else. But he asked me to let go, so I did. There was all this…fire inside me. I unleashed it. All of it. Not even Apocalypse could survive it."  
Logan stared open mouthed. Fire. It all made sense now. He knew her. He remembered the alternate timeline, the one he changed along with Charles and Raven. She wasn't able to give him back those memories, because it has never happened to her. Not in this timeline. He remembered being attracted to her from the very first moment they met. He remembered her being happy with Scott until he came along. He remembered her incredible power that consumed her, and he had no choice but to kill her. She meant so much to him; he was able to recall a whole another timeline even after they messed with his brain for so long.  
"Logan? Are you alright?" Jean said with a concerned look on her face. No answer. He seemed to stare at nothing, his mouth half open. His eyes watery. "My God, Logan, what's the matter?" Jean came closer to him. Close enough to see his chest rise up down, close enough to feel the air he was exhaling on her cheeks. She touched his face, just like the first time they met. "Logan, do you hear me?" she said. Jean's touch sent electricity through Logan's body and he finally looked at her. "Jean Grey…" he whispered quietly. There was remorse and sadness in his voice, but also hope. Hope that this would never happen to them, to her. Logan spoke her name with so much love and tenderness that Jean didn't have to be a mind reader to know how much he cared for her. "Logan…" she said while caressing his face. Jean's lips parted and brushed against his lightly. Logan sighed before he tasted Jean's full lips. Her scent drove him mad. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, feeling her slim waist with his rough hands. Jean's hand slid down his chest, feeling his heart race, kissing him passionately. They enjoyed the kiss so much, they both forgot to breathe. Jean broke away to inhale sharply. Logan smiled at her, breathing heavily. He couldn't believe she was in his arms, they got a second chance. "You know me. How?" Jean asked as her hands touched his muscular back. "That's a long story, Jeannie. I'll tell ya later…" he said as he touched her hair, and his lips found hers again.


	5. Chapter 5

"Logan, I'm glad you decided to come here after all!" the professor said.  
"It better be worth it," Logan said.  
"I think it already is," the professor said as he looked at Jean. "Have you met the other X-men? Besides Jean, of course," he added.  
Jean lowered her eyes to the ground, embarrassed.  
"I've met a few," Logan said.  
"This beautiful lady right here is Moira." Moira and Logan shook hands. Logan was very uncomfortable. The professor was probably listening to all of his thoughts. "Wow, a bunch of blue people, laser-eye dude, a couple of telepaths, and a guy with claws. What could possibly go wrong? Shit, don't think about it, don't think about it," Logan thought. The professor and Jean laughed out loud. "Oh Jean, not you, too!" Logan said.  
"Annoying, isn't it?" Moira said to Logan. He gave her a "tell me about it" look. He never had many friends, and he was never good with people. New people especially. But these were Jean's friends, he would try his best for her.  
"Well, Logan, would you like to see what we're all about? How we work together?" the professor asked. Logan took a breath, ready to say something when the professor interrupted him, "I thought so. Jean, get as many people as you can to the danger room."  
"But, professor, I have just been there with Scott and Kurt," she said, sounding tired.  
"Good, then you're already warmed up. See you there shortly."

Logan chuckled. He remembered what the danger room was. The memories of Jean were slowly unlocking all the other memories of the old timeline. He shook his head when he recalled all the quarrels with Scott, how he didn't want to take orders from him. Scott was most likely the leader in this timeline as well, or was going to be. "That's just gonna suck," Logan thought. Jean heard his thoughts, for she looked at him puzzled. "I've known ya for a long time, Jeanie. And the professor, too. I'll explain everythin' when we're alone," he said as he squeezed her hand. "D'ya trust me?"  
Jean nodded.

"Cyclops, you're taking charge of today's training," the professor said.  
"Oh, great..." Logan grumbled.  
"Me? Wow, thank you, professor!" Scott said, "Alright, Nightcrawler, Beast, to the obstacle course!"  
"B-but, I just did that for a whole hour!" Kurt protested.  
"You'll do it for another one then!" Scott said. Kurt sighed, but headed over to the course. "What's that? Worried I'll be faster than you this time?" Hank joked.  
"Not at all," Kurt said.  
Scott pointed at Jean and Jubilee. "You two, over here! Jubilee and I will be shooting energy beams, Jean, try to direct them in those targets."  
"Yes, sir!" the girls said.  
"Storm, shoot electricity Quicksilver's way. Also, be on the lookout just in case anything catches on fire! And you..."  
By the tone of Scott's voice, Logan knew he meant him. Scott already hated him and yet he didn't even know him. Some things never change.  
"Do you have a nickname?" Scott asked.  
"Wolverine," Logan answered.  
"Wolverine, you take on one of the sentinels."  
"Fair enough," Logan thought. First day and he'd already get to tear stuff up. Not bad. He popped his claws out and walked over to the sentinel.

"You missed! Again!" Quicksilver laughed as he avoided another one of Storm's lightnings.  
"You're not the only one who's quick," Storm said as she flew in the air and started spinning fast.  
Quicksilver watched in awe. He lost focus, and didn't move fast enough as Storm sent another wave of electricity his way.  
"Ouch!"  
"Maybe we should call you "Slowsilver" from now on," Storm winked.

Nightcrawler and Beast were having fun on the obstacle course. Although they didn't exactly use it as it was intended to be used. Beast started grabbing things and throwing them at Nightcrawler, who avoided them while he ran through the course.

Meanwhile Wolverine was battling it out with the sentinel. It tried to grab him as it flew around him, but Wolverine had amazing reflexes. He avoided it's arm as he jumped sideways, then he quickly jumped forward, then to the other side and punched the sentinel in the chest. This went on for a while, until Wolverine had enough, grabbed it with his claws and threw it against the wall. Everybody froze. They looked at the very likely damaged sentinel lying on the ground, then they looked at Logan. After a moment of silence, Jubilee started clapping.  
"Thanks," Logan said to Jubilee.  
He looked at Jean who was smiling at him. She had a spark in her eyes. "Ya like that, huh?" Logan thought.  
"You bet," Jean told him telepathically.  
"Okay, everyone back to what you were doing," Scott said.  
"Except you, Logan, you've done quite enough for today," the professor said.  
"Sorry 'bout that..." Logan said.  
"That's alright. Come here and watch the rest of the training with me. But please, retract your claws before you do so."

Cyclops took his visor off and shot a beam Jean's way. Not exactly at her at first, but he kept aiming closer and closer at her as he felt confident she'll redirect it. Jean slammed the beam at the target behind Scott.  
"Pretty far from the center," Jubilee teased as she threw the fireworks at her.  
Jean shot it closer this time. "Nice one, Jean," Scott said.  
She was doing so well, Cyclops and Jubilee started to attack almost simultaneously to give her a challenge. Jean shot Scott's beam right in the center of the target, but Jubilee's fireworks went dangerously close to the professor's head.  
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Jean said to professor, who slowly moved farther away from the targets.  
Jubilee gave her a slow clap.  
"Oh, stop it!"Jean said.  
Jean thought about Logan. How did he know her? And the rest of them? Why didn't she know him? Did the professor know him? He seemed like he did. She was lost in her thoughts when Cyclops' beam grazed her a little above her hip.  
"Aaargh!" Jean grunted in pain. She touched her side. Her uniform had a clean cut in it, and her hand was getting wet from the blood coming out of her wound.  
"Jean, Jean, are you okay?" Jubilee ran up to her.  
"I...I...I'm so sorry, Jean!" Scott said as he walked up to her.  
"Get away from her!" Logan got in his face. His claws were out and his eyes screamed bloody murder.  
"No, that's okay! I'm okay!" Jean said, trying to keep the tension from escalating even more.  
"He hurt you," Logan said, still staring Scott down.  
"I really didn't mean to.." Scott said. He felt terrible.  
"It was my fault, I lost focus. He didn't mean to. Logan, please..." she said.  
Logan retracted his claws and came over to Jean and Jubilee.  
"Jean, I'm so sorry," Scott apologized again.  
"I know, it's okay," Jean said.  
"Let me look at it," Hank said. "You need stitches. Come on, let's clean it out and stitch it up!"


	6. Chapter 6

Whatever Hank used to clean the wound burned like hell, but Jean didn't make a sound. It was Logan who seemed to be in pain.  
He held Jean's hand as if she were seriously ill.  
"Logan, it's really not that bad," Jean smiled.  
"I don't like it when ya hurtin', Jeannie," Logan said.  
"Alright, and now for the hard part," Hank said as he prepared to start stitching.  
This hurt more than the cleaning process.  
Jean grinned in pain, but quickly relaxed her face. She didn't want to show pain. Not in front of Logan.  
She wasn't fooling him though, he felt how she tensed up, and how much she had to hold back from squeezing his hand.  
"Oh, Jeannie..." Logan sighed.  
"Oh my God..." Hank said as he rolled his eyes.  
"Really, Logan, it's not that bad," she said. She wanted him to tell her how he knew her, but she wasn't sure if she wanted Hank to know. At least not yet. Did he know Hank as well? He said he knew all of them...  
"How are you doing, Jean?" the professor said as he walked in.  
"Fine, but this one here is taking it a bit hard," she said tapping Logan's hand.  
Professor laughed. "How do you know Jean?" he asked Logan.  
"We met when Apocalypse kidnapped ya," he said.  
"That's not how you know me," Jean thought. The Professor overheard the thought. He looked from Jean, to Logan, and back to Jean.  
Hank kept stitching for a few more minutes, then he dressed Jean's wound. Jean exhaled deeply. It was all over.  
"Be careful in the shower; no rapid movements for at least week; I'll check how it's healing in a few days," Hank told her.  
Jean nodded.  
"Hank, can you leave us for a moment? I have something to discuss with Jean and Logan," the professor said.  
"Of course. See you all later," Hank said, and closed the door behind him.  
"Glad to hear that. I have something to discuss as well," Logan said. Jean frowned, and looked at the professor. Was Logan mad at him? He almost sounded like it.  
"Alright, let's start with you first," the professor said.  
"How often does Jean use her powers in the danger room?"  
"She just used them a little while ago."  
"Not that one. The OTHER one."  
"What do you mean?"  
"You know what I mean, Charles!"  
Yes, he was mad at him for sure. Logan knew Charles was about to read his thoughts. "No need to get in my head, I'll tell ya everythin'."  
"Did you know Jean as well as you knew me?" the professor said.  
" 'As well as you knew me', how do you know each other?" Jean said with a higher pitched voice than intended.  
"We met when I time traveled. Although I knew him before that," Logan said.  
Jean opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was "Time...trav...whoa...huh.." When she knew she wasn't going to get anything out, she stopped struggling, and gestured for Logan to go on.  
"There was a war on mutants. The sentinels nearly wiped us out. Many of us died. Nearly all of us. I went back in time to fix it," Logan said in one breath.  
Jean's jaw dropped. Logan waited for Jean to process all this before he continued, "Everything started when Raven killed Trask - the creator of the sentinels. She had every right to kill him, but the humans didn't know that. They thought we were all evil and had to be dealt with; they started a war on us. I went back in time and found Charles...professor. He talked Raven out of killin' Trask, which changed the past and hopefully, the future."  
"What happened to you afterwards? I was looking for you, but I only found you recently. You weren't very happy to see me," the professor said.  
"Son of a bitch, Eric, nearly drowned me. Raven helped me, but then I got caught by Striker. He experimented on me, tortured me, turned me into a weapon."  
"Weapon X," Jean whispered.  
"Then Jean showed up. She gave me back my memories, the ones from this timeline. I didn't remember the old one, or how I time traveled when you found me. I didn't even remember you, Charles."  
"What made you remember?" Jean asked.  
"You told me about Apocalypse and...fire...inside you. I've seen ya use it, Jean."  
Whatever he's seen her do wasn't good. That much she knew from his tone. Then there were also her nightmares. She wasn't having them as frequently, but she still dreamed of fire and death from time to time.  
"Logan, what did I do? What happened to me?"  
Logan swallowed a lump in his throat. How can he tell her what happened? That she lost control and he had to kill her?  
"Tell me!" Jean insisted.  
"You were afraid of your powers. We all were. Charles decided that the best thing to do was to block that power from you, to push it deep down, so ya never get to use it again. But..."  
"I've harmed people, haven't I?"  
"Yes..." he took a breath to continue, "you harmed people. Including Scott and the professor..."  
Tears ran down Jean's cheeks. Logan was able to stop the war from happening, but what about her powers? Was the same thing going to happen anyway? Was she going to kill the ones she loved?  
"What happened then?" Jean's voice was barely above a whisper.  
"It took control over you. You begged me to save you. You begged me to..." he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. All the pain he felt in that moment came back. How he held her lifeless body in his arms...  
"I had to kill you, Jean," he whispered. He was afraid to look at her. How was she going to trust him when he just told her this? How were they going to stop it from happening again?  
"Logan? Logan, look at me," Jean said, "You kept me from harming more people. You did the right thing."  
Logan took both of Jean's small, delicate hands in his own.  
"We gotta do it differently this time, Charles. We let her down last time," Logan said.  
"But we've managed to keep it under control until now," the professor said.  
"Blocking her powers for a short time isn't controlling them. It'll come out. Trust me, I've seen it. She needs to learn how to control it."  
"You're right, Logan. Don't worry, Jean, we will not let you down this time."  
"If it takes control over me, I need you two to take care of me," Jean said with no traces of emotion.  
"Jean..." the professor said.  
"I do not want to hurt anyone. If it comes down to it, you have to stop me."  
Logan put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently. "You will not harm anyone. We will help ya learn to control it. D'ya hear me?"  
"Thank you," she said to both of them.  
"No need to thank us. I'll be outside," Charles said when he sensed they wanted to be alone.

"How 'bout I tell ya some fun stories from the other timeline, Red?" Logan tried to cheer her up.  
"You have fun stories from the other timeline as well?"  
"Sure do. Wanna hear 'em?"  
"In a minute..." she said as she pulled him close to her and kissed him.


	7. Chapter 7

Jean was taking a walk around the X Mansion. She needed fresh air and some alone time to process everything Logan told her. If her dreams were any indication, she would one day start disintegrating objects, and unfortunately, people. She dreamed these things frequently until the day they defeated Apocalypse. After that, she barely recalled dreaming anything at all. The professor must have been blocking it from her when he saw what she could do. Just like he did in Logan's timeline.  
But this was a different time. She knew what was about to happen and how to avoid it. Logan already altered time once, maybe he changed it again just by telling her what would happen. She had hope. "I will learn how to control it. I will not harm anyone," she thought.

"Hi Jean, we were thinking about going out tonight, what do you say?" Ororo asked.  
"I'd love to, but I can't," Jean said.  
"Why not? Are you alright? You seem sad," Ororo said concerned as she touched Jean's arm.  
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm sad that I can't go," Jean tried to sound as light-hearted as possible, "the professor asked me to stay with him and Logan tonight."  
Ororo eyed her suspiciously.  
"My powers have been acting up a bit lately. I need to train more. Professor thinks Logan could help me," Jean added.  
"Oh, I bet he could..." Ororo chuckled.  
"With my powers!"  
"Yeah, okay, have fun tonight...with Logan."  
"I will. And with the professor as well," Jean cringed when she realized how it came out.  
"Ha-ha-ha! See you later, Jean!"  
"See you!"  
Jean smiled. Ororo managed to cheer her up. Then she saw Scott walking towards her, and the cheer was gone. "Oh no, no, not now..." Jean thought. She always cared for Scott, but she really didn't want to see him right now, not after finding out she was going to kill him if she didn't learn to control her powers in time.  
"Hi Jean. How are you feeling?" Scott asked.  
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" Jean said.  
"Fine, I guess. I just wanted to apologize..."  
"You already did, Scott. It's okay, really. Doesn't even hurt," she assured him.  
"You were doing so well, I really thought you would deflect it."  
"I know. And I would have if my thoughts didn't wonder off. It's not your fault. Besides, having stitches is kind of badass, don't you think?" Jean smiled.  
"I suppose it is. Did Storm tell you about us going out tonight?"  
"She did. Unfortunately, I can't go with you. I have to stay here with professor, ..." she was about to say and Logan, but she stopped at professor. She didn't have to be a psychic to know these two didn't like each other.  
"Too bad. Maybe next time."  
"I'll be there next time for sure. Have fun tonight!"

Jean walked in the danger room where the professor was already waiting for her. "Hello Jean, how are you doing?" professor asked.  
"Fine, considering the circumstances," she said.  
"Are you ready to 'let go again'?"  
"Ready as ever, I suppose." Jean looked around the room, "Where's Logan?"  
"Right here, darlin'," Logan said running towards her, smelling of cigar smoke.  
Jean never cared for that smell before, but somehow it smelled good on him.  
"You see those targets?" professor said as he pointed at them, "I want you to destroy one of them."  
"Why just one?" Jean asked.  
"They're very close to each other. Destroying just one requires precision, and better control," he said.  
Jean took a deep breath, she was ready to let go when the professor yelled, "Hold on!" as him and Logan moved farther away from the targets. "Okay, now!"  
Jean's heart was racing. What if she lost control and destroyed the whole room? The whole building? But she'd do that anyway, eventually. "Alright, let's do this," she said. Jean focused, but nothing was happening. No fire.  
"Go ahead, Jean!" the professor said.  
"I'm trying!" Jean said frustrated. She's only done it once and it was a long time ago. She started to think of that day. An imagine of unconscious professor appeared in her mind. She heard his voice calling for her.  
"Let go, Jean! Let go!" professor said.  
Jean closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.  
"Now, Jean!" the professor urged her.  
Jean opened her eyes, and spread her arms. There it was. Fire. She was covered in flames, like in her dreams.  
"Oh my God..." Logan said. It was just like he remembered. He was terrified, but also in awe. She looked so powerful, so beautiful.  
Jean destroyed the target in split second. Millions of little pieces fell on the floor. Then those pieces disappeared. Another target was disintegrating...  
"Okay Jean, that's enough!" professor said as she destroyed another target bit the dust.  
"Jean, stop!" he yelled.  
Jean was inhaling sharply, fighting to tame the flames, but couldn't.  
"I'm sorry, Jean," professor said before he shut her brain down.  
Jean fainted as Logan caught her in his arms.

"Jeannie! Wake up!" Jean heard as she was regaining consciousness. She opened her eyes but all she could see was darkness.  
"Jean, can ya see me?" Logan said. Jean started to see an image forming. It was blurry, but she could see Logan kneeling next to her, and the professor behind him.  
"Yeah. Too bad you can't keep your face in focus," Jean said, making Logan smile. Logan sighed relieved, and caressed Jean's cheek.  
"So how did I do?" Jean said sarcastically.  
"Not bad, actually," professor said, "You hit the target precisely. Then you got a bit...overwhelmed."  
"Yeah, overwhelmed." Jean couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice.  
"Don't get discouraged, Jean. It was your first try," professor said. Logan agreed, she did very well for her first time. Well, second time.  
"Yeah, don't give up, Red."  
"Never," Jean said as she touched his hand that lay on her cheek.


	8. Chapter 8

Kurt found Logan smoking a cigar in front of the X Mansion. He hasn't spoken to him much since the day he showed up. Logan actually didn't speak to anyone but Jean and maybe the professor. But then again, the other X-men weren't trying all that hard to befriend him. Especially not Scott.  
"Wolverine!" Kurt said.  
"Nightcrawler," Logan said as he pointed a cigar at him.  
Kurt stood next to him. He wanted to ask him how he was, but he could tell he wasn't in a good mood. He couldn't think of anything clever to say, so he just stood there in silence, awkwardly smiling at Logan. "Wow, this is painful," Logan thought. "Brew?" Logan asked as he reached out with a beer in his hand.  
"No, thank you," Kurt said, but changed his mind when Logan held the beer close to his face anyway.  
"Well, alright then..." Kurt said as he took a sip. "Maybe drinkin' will make this less awkward," Logan thought.  
"I don't think I ever thanked you for helping us out that one time," Kurt said. "You just slashed through all those people like it was nothing! It was amazing!" Kurt said all excited.  
"I ain't good at many things, but the ones I'm good at, I'm the best at," Logan smirked and popped his claws out. Kurt agreed. Wolverine was the last guy on Earth you'd want to piss off, which is why he didn't have many friends.  
"Have you spoken to Jean lately?" Kurt asked.  
Was this about Jean? Was she the reason for this awkward conversation? Logan spoke to Jean vaguely yesterday, when he and the professor were trying to help her with her powers. Her aim was very good, but she couldn't stop it on her own. Professor had to step in every single time. Jean was falling into depression and she distanced herself not only from her friends, but from him as well.  
"Is this 'bout Jean?" Logan asked.  
"One of the reasons. I'm worried about her," Kurt said concerned.  
Logan was worried as well. Jean's powers were a ticking time-bomb. He would never lose hope, but all these failed attempts were discouraging. And now she didn't even speak to him about it.  
"Is she okay?" Kurt asked.  
"Don't know. Ya gonna have to ask Jeannie. She ain't talkin' to me, either," he said. Logan knew Jean was growing distant because of fear of what she might do to them, but he wasn't going to tell him that. That was up to Jean to explain.  
Kurt heard sadness in Logan's voice.  
"You like her, don't you?" Kurt asked more or less rhetorically.  
"More than ya know," Logan smiled, but his eyes remained sad. He wouldn't speak about personal things to many people, but he never hid his feelings for Jean in front of anybody.  
"What's the other reason ya came to talk to me?" Logan said.  
"I came to thank you and also tell you that no matter what people think, I think you're a great addition to our team!"  
"No matter what people think? What do they think!?"  
"O-oh..."  
"Nightcrawler...?"  
"Well, some people think you're...too stubborn and angry to take commands," Kurt quickly looked away from Logan.  
"Some people, ya mean Boy Scout Scott..."  
"No...yeah," Kurt admitted.  
"My anger sure helped when he was 'bout to get shot by them sons of bitches a few years back," Logan said bitterly. He spent all his life trying to control the animal within him. He's gotten better but it would still come out here and then. He hated when somebody pointed it out to him. Now that he thought about it, Jean was going through the same thing.  
"Please, don't tell him I told you!"  
"Nah, I don't wanna talk to him anyway..."  
"I gotta go now. Thanks for the beer!" Kurt said.  
"Ya welcome," Logan said. He threw the cigar on the ground, angry. "Damn Scooter, never failin' to piss me off through all of time 'n' space," he thought.  
His anger started to fade away slowly as the conversation with Nightcrawler ran through his mind. Strange blue fella, that one, but he considered him a friend. At least he didn't mind his anger outbursts.  
But there was another thing making him angry - Jean not talking to him. He finished his beer, entered the mansion and walked up to Jean's room. He knocked at her door, and stepped from side to side nervously as he waited for her to answer.  
"Logan! Hi!" He could tell she was forcing a smile. She looked very tense, not a single muscle on her was relaxed. And her eyes were a little swollen, she was crying earlier.  
He felt an urge to hug her. "Jean, what happened?" he asked.  
"Nothing. Just couldn't sleep last night."  
Logan looked at her suspiciously.  
"Really, that's it," she added when she saw he didn't believe her.  
Logan shook his head, his emotions shifting from concern to anger.  
"Why dontcha talk to me, Jeannie?"  
"Logan, please..."  
"No, why dontcha talk to me, I'm here to help!" he sounded more hurt than angry now.  
"I know you are. I'm failing, Logan, it's not getting better."  
"You ain't failin'."  
"I am. What if not all of time can be rewritten? What if I'm meant to lose control? What if you're meant to kill me?"  
"Don't talk like that!"  
"See, this is why I didn't want to say anything in the first place. I didn't want you to feel like I do."  
"Well, great job, Jeannie," sarcasm was heavy on his voice.  
"I'm sorry. I'll get over this," Jean said, feeling his pain.  
"Just don't give up, okay?"  
"I won't, I promise."  
"Sleep well, Jeannie."  
"Good night, Logan."

She sensed his thoughts and emotions even after he left. He was upset and hurt. "Great, I'm so concerned about hurting people with my powers, that I hurt them with my behavior," she thought. She took a deep breath. "Come on, Jean, you gotta get over this," she said out loud.  
One thing was for certain. Neither one of them would sleep tonight.


	9. Chapter 9

Jean walked in the living room where Kurt, Jubilee, and Pietro sat on the couch watching what looked like a sitcom from another decade.  
"Jean!" Pietro perked up, "sit with us!" he said as he moved closer to Jubilee, making a spot for Jean at the end of the couch. Jean hesitated and looked at her watch. She was supposed to meet the professor in his office tonight, but she still had 15 minutes to spare.  
"Thanks, Quickie," she said and she sat down.  
"How have you been?" Jubilee asked.  
"Alright," Jean shrugged her shoulders, "How have you all been?"  
"Fine," all three of them said.  
Jean read all of their thoughts. Logan wasn't the only one who was concerned about her.  
"I've just been a little under the weather, don't worry about me," she smiled, "Any plans for tonight?" she asked.  
"This is pretty much it," Pietro said.  
"Yeah, I'm not getting off this couch anytime soon," Jubilee said.  
"You?" Kurt asked Jean.  
"I'm supposed to meet the professor shortly," she said. "By the way, have you seen Logan?" she leaned to look at Kurt who sat at the other end of the couch.  
"I've seen him yesterday."  
"Yeah, me too..." Jean said.  
"Something happened between you too?" Kurt was curious.  
Pietro looked at Jubilee and motioned for her to switch places with Jean so these two could talk. Jubilee got it after a while.  
"Oh! Jean, switch with me!" she stood up.  
Jean sat next to Kurt.  
"So what happened?" he said.  
"He was concerned about me, just like you guys. And I...kind of pushed him away."  
"Like you did us?"  
"Kind of. I'm sorry," she sighed.  
"No worries. What is going on, anyway?"  
"It's one of my powers. I didn't want to bother you with it, but I guess there is no way around it. I haven't fully learned to control it. That's the reason I was avoiding you, and why I'm meeting the professor tonight."  
Pietro and Jubilee looked at each other.  
"Which one, telekinesis?" Kurt asked.  
"Sort of..." she said. She wasn't even sure what it was, or what it was called, so how was she going to explain it to them? There was a confused look on all of her friends' faces.  
"I'll tell you about it soon, I just wanna discuss it with professor first," Jean said.  
"Okay. I hope you'll straighten it out soon," Pietro said.  
"Yeah, me too..." she didn't say it out loud. She just smiled and nodded.

"Hello Jean, sit down," professor said, and pointed at the chair in front of him.  
"Hello professor!" Jean sat down.  
"I called you here to discuss our training schedule. I think you're over-training. You need to take a 2-day rest before every..."  
"2 days? But I need to train as much as I can!" Jean blurted out.  
"You're overworking yourself mentally, and physically. Not to mention having your brain shut down so often is really bad for you."  
Jean was about to say something but then thought better of it. She didn't want to argue with professor. And maybe a rest was what she needed to get in a better mood.  
"Yes, I think you'll be happier as well," professor said after listening to her thoughts.  
Jean glared at him but smiled afterwards.  
"I'm sorry, sometimes I hear it when I don't mean to," he said.  
"No problem, I know the struggle."  
"How are things with Logan?" he asked out of the blue.  
"Um...why? Did he say something?"  
Professor gave her a knowing smile. "No, but I know he's sad. You both are. You see, Jean, the two of you are going through very similar things. You both are trying to gain control of your powers. Talking about it could make you feel better."  
"You're right. I just...didn't want him to feel like I do."  
"And how did that work out?"  
Jean lowered her eyes. Professor was right once again.  
"I'll talk to him," she said.  
They talked for a few more minutes about school and Jean's classmates. He kept telling her to rest up before she uses her powers again.  
"You'll get it, Jean, I'm sure of it," he said with confidence. Jean listened to his thoughts and to her surprise, he wasn't lying.  
"Thank you, professor."  
"You're welcome. Enjoy the rest of the evening!"  
"Yes, you too! Good night," she said, and left the office.  
Jean decided to spend her night off by getting some extra sleep in. Right after getting some fresh air.

Logan was coming home from a long walk. He couldn't sleep at all last night. Every time he was about to fall asleep, he saw an image of Jean's lifeless body in his arms. Logan shook his head in order to shake the memory off. Although technically he saw the future. So was this a memory or a premonition? Hopefully, it wouldn't become either...  
"Oh no..." he said when he saw Scott standing about twenty feet from the front door. Logan acted as if he didn't see him and quickened his pace to get to the door fast.  
"Good evening, Wolverine," Scott said with forced politeness.  
"Evenin', Scott," Logan matched his fake politeness equally.  
"Do you have a minute?"  
"No, I don't," politeness was out the window.  
"What did you do to Jean?" Scott sounded slightly edgy.  
"What I did to Jean? I cut her with an energy beam...oh no, that's right, that was you!"  
"Something's going on with her, she stopped talking to me when you showed up!" Scott pointed a finger at him.  
"Ya really picked the wrong time to piss me off, Scooter! And put the damn finger down!" Logan said as he pointed a finger at him as well.  
"What is going on in the danger room after practices? I've heard you and Jean are in there when nobody else is," Scott said, more jealous than concerned. Logan recognized the tone right away.  
"I take her whicheva way I like," he said sarcastically, "and the professor too, he's in there with us. Ya need to get a better snitch!"  
"Stop!" Scott shouted.  
"What we do in there could save your damn life! And if Jean didn't tell ya, it's because she don't give a shit 'bout ya!"  
That did it. Scott was furious. He shoved Logan hard enough that he stumbled back. Logan grunted, all of his self control slipping away. He threw a jab at Scott's face, which he dodged but then got hit with an uppercut in the stomach. Logan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down when he saw Scott reaching for his visor.  
"Dontcha dare!" he said and popped his claws out.  
"Stop it, you two!" Ororo yelled as she shot a lightning in between them.  
Scott put his hand away from the visor, and Logan retracted his claws. They went too far, they knew that.  
"What is up with you?!" Ororo wasn't angry as much as disappointed. Mainly in Scott.  
"I told you this one has anger issues," Scott said.  
"Then why did you touch him first? I saw everything," Ororo said.  
"Unbelievable!" Logan was in disbelief. Not only has Scott started a fight, he then tried to blame it on him!  
"What is going on?" Jean ran towards them.  
"Oh God..." Logan and Scott said in unison.  
"Is everybody alright?" Jean asked.  
"Yes, physically, anyway. Mentally, I wouldn't be so sure," Ororo said.  
"I'm gonna go. I apologize to everyone for my behavior," Scott said, trying to get away from Jean, so he wouldn't have to explain anything. Not now.  
"Hah!" Logan snorted, rolling his eyes.  
"I better take him away before things escalate again," Ororo said as she grabbed Scott's arm.

Logan sat down on the ground and put his head in his hands. He lost his temper. Again.  
"Logan," Jean said.  
"Not now, Red."  
"I just..."  
"I said not now!" he snapped.  
He sounded so intense, it made Jean take a step back.  
"I just can't talk right now," he softened his voice, "YOU of all people should know..."  
Jean turned around and slowly walked back inside. She understood where he was coming from, she knew what he was feeling at the moment. But him snapping at her hurt all the same. Then she remembered she rejected him earlier as well, although in a calmer manner. "Sorry professor, I'll have to talk to him some other time," she thought.

Jean took a long, hot shower, carefully avoiding the place where stitches were. She then brushed her gorgeous red hair, and put on her favorite little shorts and a tank top. She then slipped under the covers of her bed. Sleep wasn't coming, she couldn't stop thinking about Logan. She felt why he was upset, it wasn't Scott as much as it was him losing control again, and her not sharing what's bothering her. She wanted to comfort him, but he wanted to be alone and she would respect his wishes. "Tomorrow is another day," she thought.

When all anger faded, regret took its place as Logan thought of how he spoke to Jean earlier. She finally reached out to him and shut her down. He wished he could take it back. "No, this can't be the last think I'll say to her today," he thought.

Jean was just getting comfortable in her bed when she heard someone knock. She opened the door and saw Logan. He wasn't mad anymore, she felt how happy he was to see her. She was overwhelmed by all the emotions Logan was feeling right now. He was sorry about losing his temper and that she had to see it, he didn't want that to be their last conversation of the day, he wanted to touch her, hold her, he wanted to...Logan's thoughts instantly made Jean blush. He wanted, needed her in every way. She felt her heart beating.  
She stood there in tiny little clothes, beautiful as ever. He wondered if she could read his thoughts right now, and whether or not he wanted her to read them. Then he noticed her chest quickly rising up and down, her heart-beat sped up, her cheeks flushed. She was tense, but this time it was a different kind of tension. She wanted him.  
"Logan," was all she managed to say before he kissed her and slammed the door shut. Logan put his hand on her neck and caressed it with his fingers and lifted her chin up with his thumb. He tasted those full lips like he never tasted them before. His tongue found hers. His other hand roamed around her back, down to her waist. He pulled her closer, so close it affected their breathing, yet it still wasn't close enough. Logan was holding her waist so tight, it nearly hurt her, but she wanted him to squeeze even harder. He then kissed her ear and made his way down her neck. Jean moaned. She felt around his hard stomach, then she grabbed his shirt, pulled it off him, and let it hit the floor. He looked absolutely breathtaking.  
"Jean..." Logan spoke her name with lust. He picked her up and brought her up against the well. Jean wrapped her long legs around his waist, she felt how ready he was for her. She was playing with his hair when he grabbed her hands and placed them above her head against the wall. He kissed her again as their fingers intertwined. He pushed his hips up against hers, so she could get a glimpse of what was to come.  
"Ahh, Logan," she moaned.  
Logan then let go of her hands. He touched her cheek with one hand, the other one made its way down her tank top. Logan looked at her for consent.  
"Yes..." Jean whispered.  
They weren't going to get any sleep tonight, either...


	10. Chapter 10

Jean woke up surprised to see her stitches remained intact. Good, now she wouldn't have to explain anything to Hank. She then looked beside her and couldn't help but smile. It was beautiful to see Logan, such a passionate, temperamental man sleeping so peacefully next to her. She touched his face gently, and trailed her fingers down to his neck and shoulder, and every spectacular muscle on his incredibly large arm. Jean sighed thinking about how she trembled in his magnificent arms last night.  
Logan quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her on top of him.  
"Did I startle ya?" he said softly as he took a strand of Jean's hair in his fingers. Her hair was messy and voluminous, the result of last night. And he loved it that way.  
"You didn't," she said sleepily.  
"Good mornin', Red," he put a strand of Jean's hair behind her ear, and placed his hand on her shoulder.  
"Good morning, Logan," she yawned.  
"Tired from last night?" he winked at her.  
"Yeah...we didn't exactly sleep all that much, and I don't have your healing ability. But I wouldn't trade THAT for sleep anyway," she winked back.  
There was a knock on the door.  
"Jean, you'll be late for history class!" they heard Ororo's voice outside Jean's room.  
"Oh God..." Jean got out of bed, fully awake now.  
"You said that a lot last night..." Logan teased.  
Jean laughed and hit him with a pillow playfully.  
"Come on, Jean, everybody's already there!" Ororo said.  
"Can't believe this, I'm never late..." Jean said as she reached for the first pair of jeans and a shirt she could find.  
"So how d'ya wanna do this?" Logan said.  
"What do you mean?" she said while getting dressed.  
"Should I wait here till after you leave or..."  
"Why would you do that?" Jean chuckled.  
"Well, if she sees us, she'll tell everyone..."  
"They're all already talking anyway. Besides, I don't mind," she put one knee on the bed, bent down, and reached for his face, "Do you mind?"  
"Do I mind gettin' caught with a beautiful woman, are ya kidding?" he took her hand and kissed it.  
"Then get dressed and let's go!" she picked up his shirt from the floor and threw it at him.  
"What took you so long?!" Ororo said when Jean opened the door, "You're gonna make me late..." she stopped mid sentence as she saw Logan behind her, "oh..."  
"I'm sorry," Jean said, "this usually doesn't happen to me."  
"Good mornin' Storm," Logan said nonchalantly.  
"Good morning, indeed," Ororo said smiling at both of them.

Jean spent half the class trying to brush her messy hair with her fingers, and ignoring Storm's questions about last night.  
Even though she hasn't slept much, she somehow felt refreshed, recharged. Maybe Logan's healing ability rubbed off on her. Then she thought of how her and Logan were going to be the hot topic around the school for a while. "So what," she thought, "I'm not ashamed of my feelings for Logan." But Scott was going to find out as well. He still wasn't over her, she knew that. And he already got into a fight with Logan.  
"What's wrong?" Ororo whispered when she saw Jean's expression change from happy to concerned.  
"Scott..." was all she needed to say to make Ororo understand.  
"I better be lightning fast next time..." Ororo thought.

Logan thought about spending time in the danger room training while Jean was taking classes. Maybe there was someone foolish enough to spar with him.  
"Wolverine!" Kurt called out when Logan walked in the danger room.  
"This one just might be," Logan mumbled.  
"Pardon me?" Kurt looked at him confused.  
"Nightcrawler! Shouldn't ya be in class?" Logan asked.  
"Not for another 30 minutes. How are you, by the way? I heard what happened..."  
Logan knew it was going to spread fast, but this fast?  
"Heard about..." Logan said.  
"You and Scott fighting."  
"Oh that! Yeah."  
"What happened? If you don't mind me asking."  
"Someone told him 'bout Jean and I spendin' time in the danger room when no one's here. Guess it pissed him off. Ya wouldn't happen to know who told him, would ya?" Logan asked thinking it was Kurt. He told Logan what Scott said about him, maybe he told Scott about him and Jean.  
"No, I have no idea..."  
Logan squinted his eyes suspiciously.  
"Really, I don't know," Kurt raised his hands in the air.  
"Logan, please, come into my office as soon as you can." Logan heard Charles' voice.  
"Did ya hear that?" Logan asked.  
"Heard what?" Kurt turned his head in different directions to see if he could pick something up, "I don't think I hear anything."  
"Professor just sent me a message. I'm gonna go talk to him," Logan said.  
"Okay," Kurt said relieved this conversation was over, "tell him I said hi!"  
"Sure will."

Logan picked up his pace to get to the office faster. "Saved by the bell," he thought about Nightcrawler.  
What could Charles possibly want? Was this about Jean?

Logan was about to knock on the professor's door when Charles said, "Come in!"  
"Of course," Logan thought, "he already knows what I'll do before I do it."  
"Logan, thank you for coming here so quickly. Take a seat!"  
"Thanks. So what's this 'bout?"  
"I received a message from an old friend. If what he says is true, we're all in a big trouble."  
"Who is this old friend?"  
Professor wasn't answering. Logan would surely not consider him a friend right now.  
"Just tell me," Logan said.  
"It's Magneto."  
Logan took a deep breath. Yeah, definitely not a friend right now.  
"What does he want?" Logan asked.  
"He wanted to warn me. Us. He said there is a man named Henry Gyrich, does it ring a bell?" Charles hoped that maybe Logan knew him from the other timeline.  
"No," Logan shook his head.  
"Well, he continued Trask's research. He made new and improved sentinels. They're even deadlier now."  
Logan couldn't imagine how they could possibly get any deadlier than they already were.  
"What does he want with 'em? Humans are fine with us now, the government ain't gonna approve."  
"They were fine with us for a while. That was before Apocalypse showed up. Gyrich manipulated the people in order to test his new toy. A newer version of Trask's toy."  
"But THIS was not supposed to happen. We changed history." Logan said disappointed, "How do we even know it's true? Ya trust Eric now?"  
"I don't see why he would lie about it, and he helped us defeat Apocalypse," Charles said.  
"Yeah, but he was on his side before that. And he nearly drowned me once."  
"Eric did some horrible things, but he helped us as well, and he's trying to help us now," Charles defended his old frenemy.  
"I thought we changed the future and this was never gonna happen..." Logan's voice faded. Was it all for nothing?  
"We did. But we have to change it again. Logan, if things are as bad as Eric says, we may need...oh, you're not going to like this," Charles said.  
"'Cause I liked everythin' ya said so far," Logan said sarcastically.  
"We may need Jean to..." Charles said.  
"She ain't ready, Charles," Logan said sadly.  
"She'll have to be ready in a very short time then," Charles said as a matter of fact.  
"You gotta be kidding me!"  
"It's the only chance we've got. Jean will understand..."  
"There ya go, makin' decisions for other people again..." Logan said angrily.  
"Let's ask Jean and have her decide."  
"It won't be no decision, the minute ya ask her to do something, she'll do it. You know she'll do anythin' for ya, she always did everythin' for us," sadness filled Logan's voice.  
"She already controlled it once when we fought Apocalypse, she can do it again," Charles was trying to persuade himself as much as Logan.  
"Once! And not ever since." Logan had to use all his will power not to shout. He felt like Charles was ready to gamble with Jean's life.  
"Logan," professor said reaching for his hand, "do you think I would want her to do it if I saw another way? If she doesn't do it, we all die anyway."  
He hated to admit it, but Charles had a point. And Jean was able to control it enough once. Could she do it again?  
Logan thought of all the hardship they went through when the war broke out in the old timeline, and the struggle he endured to change history. All the effort now appeared useless, for they were on a brink of another war. But he'd gladly go through it all again, and more if it meant that Jean didn't get consumed by her powers, if they could save her. "It will be worth it. It HAS to be," Logan thought.


	11. Chapter 11

The group met up in the danger room. It was time to get physical. Jubilee was already throwing fireworks at Pietro.  
"You'll never get me!" Pietro said.  
"Don't give up, Jubilee, he said that to me as well," Ororo chuckled remembering how she made him lose focus.  
"Did you talk to Logan yet?" Kurt asked Jean.  
"Ummm...kind of," Jean blushed.  
"Oh, so you..."patched things up"," Kurt made the air quotes gesture.  
"Ororo already told you!?"  
"No, your face did," Kurt laughed.  
Where was Logan anyway? And the professor?  
"Here we are," professor said as he came in, followed closely by Logan who didn't seem to be in a good mood.  
He couldn't see Scott's eyes, but if he could, they would surely be giving him a death stare.  
"I know I said 2-day rest, but that may not be possible now," professor told Jean telepathically. Jean looked at Logan. Was this the reason for his mood? But he didn't even know about the 2-day rest in the first place.  
"Is something wrong, professor?" Jean asked telepathically.  
"Yes, I'll explain in a minute. But first we need to tell everyone about your powers."  
Jean promised to tell them anyway, so right now seemed as good of a time as any.  
"Alright, professor," she said.  
"Is everything okay?" Pietro asked when he figured Jean and professor were engaging in a telepathic conversation.  
"I have received a message from Magneto," professor said.  
"Oh..." Pietro said. He still hasn't told Magneto that he's his son. He missed his chance when he and Raven were trying to talk him out of destroying the world, and he hasn't seen him ever since. Would there be another chance?  
"We are facing a new threat. Well, rather old but improved threat. A man called Henry Gyrich has made a few adjustments to the sentinels. He hates mutants, and Apocalypse gave him a good excuse to persuade the public that we need to be dealt with. Our school is going to be one of the targets."  
"How does Magneto know all this?" Ororo asked.  
"He received a tip from Raven," professor said.  
Hank closed his eyes and sighed. Raven. She broke his heart so many times, but not enough to stop loving her. It's been months since he's last seen her. She trained the young mutants for some time, and when she thought they didn't need her anymore, she left. And now she was with Eric again.  
"What should we do? Should we leave the school?" Jubilee asked.  
"They will follow us anywhere. I'd rather them target the school than other places, where no one is ready for them," professor said.  
"Can't we just stop that Gyrich guy?" Pietro.  
"He is protected very well. In order to get him, there would have to be violence. Raven was about to kill his predecessor - Trask, more than a decade ago. That's what nearly started the war in the first place. We have to stop the sentinels without hurting any humans" professor said.  
"We did that last time. Where did it get us?" Logan said.  
"It gave us years of peace, Logan," professor said.  
"How do we stop them?" Hank asked.  
Professor looked at Jean.  
"Well, damn," Jean said realizing all the responsibility that lay on her shoulders. Jubilee, Pietro, and Kurt looked at each other, recalling the conversation in the living room the other day. Whatever her powers were, they must have been very destructing, and dangerous.  
"Jean, what's going on?" Scott asked.  
"I have the ability to destroy every object on the planet. I can destroy many at once," Jean said.  
"That actually sound like something we could use right now," Pietro said.  
"Yes, but I have a hard time controlling it. Once I start, I can't stop," she said.  
Logan thought of what Charles said about Jean's mind. It was strong, maybe even stronger than Charles'. How was she able to stop it on her own that one time? Was it so intense that it burned her out? Or perhaps she stopped it simply because she had to? Whatever it was, they had to find out very soon.  
"Not always. You stopped it once," Logan said.  
Jean was surprised to see Logan's mood completely change. There was determination and some sort of calmness in his voice.  
"True. I was able to control it when we battled Apocalypse," she said.  
"Ahhh, so that's how we beat him!" Pietro said. This has been itching Pietro's brain for quite some time. He remembered how all of them had to use their powers just to keep Apocalypse in place. And then just like that he vanished. He never understood how that was possible. Until now.  
"Remind me to be nice to her in the future!" Pietro joked. Ororo punched him lightly in the arm, "Now's not the time!" she whispered.  
"What did you do? Was there something you did differently than any other time?" professor asked.  
"Nothing different. At least that I know of," Jean said.  
Professor remembered how he once taught Eric to use his powers. Eric thought it was anger that triggered his abilities, but there was much more to actually controlling them. There was also love he felt for the people he wanted to protect, a sense of urgency that he had to do it, sadness after experiencing a loss. A perfect balance of all the strongest human emotions.  
"What did you feel?" Logan asked her as if he read professor's mind.  
Jean thought of that moment which now seemed like ages ago.  
"I was scared and angry to watch the whole world being torn down. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it, but I knew I had to. I thought of you..." she paused, "all of you," she looked at Logan. Logan's been a part of her life ever since they met. Even through all the years they haven't seen each other. She always thought of the troubled man with no memories and wondered whether they'll see each other again.  
"I wanted to keep you all safe," she said.  
"Peace..." professor said, "you have to control your emotions, Jean. I know it's a difficult thing to do especially while using something so powerful, but your emotions have to be in a perfect balance."  
"Can you show us?" Kurt couldn't wait to see it.  
"You may not be so happy once you actually see it," Jean said.  
"You can do it, Jeannie," Logan encouraged her.  
"And I'm here, just in case," professor said. Just in case he had to shut her brain off yet again.  
"Alright," Jean said, "but you better step back."  
Jean faced the targets, and waited for everyone to get behind her. Jean took a deep breath as she always did. Flames formed around her body.  
"Whoa!" Pietro gasped.  
Scott's jaw dropped. He wasn't sure if he was afraid or excited. The sight was magnificent and terrifying at the same time.  
Then the targets started disintegrating one by one.  
"Oh...my...God," Ororo said, grabbing Pietro's hand.  
"Alright, Jean, now try to make it stop," professor said calmly.  
Jean concentrated, trying to take control of her powers and emotions, but this incredible force was consuming her, taking control over her.  
"Come on, Jean!" professor said.  
Scott covered his mouth in horror when Jean started destroying the obstacle course, breaking it down into small pieces, than those pieces vanishing altogether. Was Jean going to come back from this? Kurt squeezed Scott's shoulder to comfort him.  
Tears were starting to form in Jubilee's eyes. She was very worried about Jean, she didn't even seem like herself.  
"What's gonna happen to her?" she asked. She didn't get an answer, but she got a hug from Hank.  
Professor put his fingers on his temple, he was about to shut Jean's brain down once again.  
"No, wait!" Logan screamed.  
Logan was slowly walking up to Jean.  
"What on Earth are you doing?!" Kurt yelled after him.  
Logan stood right in front of her. He would have vaporized in a second if it weren't for his healing ability.  
"Jean! I know you're in there. Listen to me!" Logan said as he touched her hand. His healing power barely kept his hand in one piece. It looked as if he was about to shatter into a million little pieces, but he kept on regenerating. He was in some serious pain though. He felt as if he was burning.  
"How long can he keep on healing like that?" Scott couldn't believe he was actually concerned about Wolverine's well being.  
"Jeannie, d'ya hear me?" Logan spoke softly.  
It sounded as if he was speaking to her from a great distance, but she heard him.  
"I'm right beside ya," he held her hand firmly.  
Jean panicked when she realized Logan was "in the line of fire", accidentally intensifying her powers even more, "Logan, you can't stay here," she said as she tried to let go of his hand, but he wouldn't let her.  
"I ain't leavin'. I'll NEVER leave," he said stubbornly.  
"I don't want to hurt you," Jean was on the verge of crying.  
"You can do it, Jeannie, I believe in ya. Calm down, darlin'," he was in so much pain, he thought he would pass out, "We'll change the future together, Jeannie, and I'll be right beside ya through it all."  
Jean thought about their last night together. Then she thought of the future. She imagined humans and mutants getting along, no more sentinels and evil humans or mutants to fight. She imagined herself with Logan, and spending the rest of their nights like they spent last night. He did so much to secure the future she was now imagining. It was the future they both dreamed about. She could help make that dream a reality.  
The fiery storm was starting to fade within her, her breathing was slowing down. The flames started to disappear as her mind felt at peace.  
"She did it, she did it!" Jubilee squealed, hugging Hank back.  
Professor gave a long sigh of relief.  
"Logan..." Jean whispered. She was exhausted, but she was okay. And so was everybody else.  
"Jeannie," Logan said as he let her rest in his arms.  
"Thank you," Jean said, hugging him as tight as her momentary strength let her.  
"For what?" Logan asked while moving his hands up and down her back.  
"For making me hope again."


	12. Chapter 12

Logan saw the group wanted to rush over to Jean, but they were reluctant to do so when they saw them in such a loving embrace. Logan didn't want to stop holding her, but he understood her friends wanted to make sure she was okay.  
"Strong enough to stand on your own, Jeannie?" he asked.  
"Yes, I'm fine," Jean said.  
"Ya sure?" he brushed his thumb over his lips gently.  
"Yes. Thanks to you," she smiled.  
"Alright, I'll be over there with the professor."  
Logan slowly stepped away from her, just in case she wasn't able to support herself yet. When her friends surrounded her and he made sure she was okay, he went over to the professor.

"Are you okay? Can I do anything?" Scott asked.  
"I am, thank you," Jean said.  
"Jean, can I just say you are on fire today!" Pietro joked.  
Ororo rolled her eyes, but she laughed just like the rest of them did.  
"Jean...I...ah...whoa!" Kurt stuttered, still in shock.  
"What language was that, German?" Hank teased.  
"How long did you know about it?" Jubilee asked.  
Jean had to think about it a little. "Well, I've always suspected it, but I wasn't sure until professor asked me to help him against Apocalypse."  
"So he knew this whole time? Who else knew about it?" Ororo asked.  
"Logan," Jean said. She quickly looked at Scott. She thought he would be angry but to her surprise he wasn't.  
"I'm just glad you're alright," Scott said.  
Jean touched his arm. She knew it pained him to see her with Logan, but she couldn't give him anything but her friendship.  
"I just realized, you can literally kick my ass now!" Pietro said.  
"Oh, I always could!" Jean smirked.  
"Ouch! Burn, right?" Pietro said, giving everyone a laughing fit.

"Did ya really believe Jean was gonna be able to do it?" Logan asked Charles.  
"Absolutely! Although, I must admit, I wasn't so sure it was going to be today," Charles said.  
They watched the group silently for a while. They have grown so much throughout the years. Not only as individuals, but as a group. Charles felt pride swell up in his chest.  
"At first you seemed doubtful about Jean being able to handle her powers," Charles said.  
"If ya saw what I saw back in my time, you'd understand."  
Charles nodded, "What made you change your mind?"  
"I've experienced a lot in my timeline. I believed in many things and they weren't worth a damn. But Jean was the only thing worth believin' in. I could always count on her no matter what. But she couldn't always count on me. Things were...complicated. And I didn't stick around. I wasn't always there when she needed me," he said with regret, "I wasn't gonna let her down today. And I'll be damned if I ever let her down again."  
Charles was touched by Logan's words. He could see himself and Moira in Logan and Jean. Separated many times, only to always return to each other. Through all time and space.  
"I think he wants to talk to you," Charles said.  
"Who?" Logan asked.  
"Scott. He's going to come over here pretty soon."  
"Wonderful!" Logan said sarcastically.  
And sure enough, he was already walking towards them.  
"Professor, Logan," Scott said. That was the first time he called him "Logan" since he's been there.  
"I'm gonna go check on Jean as well," professor said, his facial expression looking like "you're on your own, buddy".  
"I want to apologize for how I acted the other day," Scott said.  
"Ya know no one can hear your heartfelt apology now, right?" Logan said.  
"Really, I'm sorry."  
"Alright. Apology accepted," Logan said after studying his expression. Scott seemed sincere.  
"When I asked you what you and Jean were doing here after practices, and you said it could save my life, I didn't want to believe you," Scott said.  
"I ain't the nicest guy on the planet, but I ain't no liar," Logan said.  
"I know, it's just...it's hard to see someone you care about be happy with someone else," Scott said.  
Logan was all too familiar with that. It didn't seem that long ago when he was in Scott's position, and he had to watch Jean be happy with someone else. Although, was she really happy? A part of her always loved Logan even though she never admitted it, but Logan always knew from the way she looked at him, from the tension between them when they were alone.  
"I understand. Ya have no idea how much I understand," Logan said with more empathy than he thought he would ever feel for Scott. He knew his pain, and he knew he truly cared for Jean. Their love for her was about the only thing they had in common.  
"Anyhow, thank you for helping her," Scott said as he turned to leave. He didn't like Logan any more now than he did before, but he was grateful that he helped Jean, and maybe even saved them all.  
"Scott!" Logan called out. He would probably never like him, but he respected him for putting his personal feelings aside when it came to Jean's well being.  
"Yeah?" Scott turned to Logan.  
"Look, we may never be best friends or nothin' like that, but ya can count on me when we're out there on a mission and somethin' goes down."  
"Deal."  
"Now let's go see if they're badmouthin' us," Logan said.

"What did I miss?" Logan said, wrapping his arm around Jean.  
"You missed a bunch of Quicksilver's jokes. So nothing, really," Jean laughed, touching Logan's hand that lay on her shoulder.  
"Looks like we missed something," Ororo said looking at Logan and Scott.  
"I don't want to ruin the party, but you know, sentinels, Gyrich...we need to make a plan," professor said.  
"How about Jean comes out and vaporizes everything?" Pietro said.  
"That'll be a big part of the plan," professor chuckled, "but I'm afraid there's more things to discuss."  
"Whatever you need us to do, you can count on us," Hank said.  
"I'm glad you say that because Eric is on his way," professor said, "He must be getting close," he sensed his mind being near.  
"He is?!" Pietro said with a mixture of excitement and fear. He would have another chance to tell him, but could he do it this time? And how was Eric going to react?  
"Yes, he will give us more information about Gyrich and his plan of attack. And the new sentinels, of course," professor said.  
"Don't worry, professor, I can handle Eric," Hank said reassuringly.  
"Oh, I can handle him as well," Logan said, his meaning very different from Hank's. "Alright, I'll behave," Logan said after Charles gave him a look.  
The way he said it made Jean laugh out loud. She squeezed his hand affectionately.  
"Glad ya happy," Logan said.  
"How could I not be?" she smiled at him.  
"You don't have a codename!" Pietro said looking at Jean.  
"What?" Jubilee asked.  
"We all have a codename except for Jean," Pietro said.  
"Oh, I got plenty of nicknames for her," Logan chuckled.  
"Logan!" Jean nudged him playfully.  
"Not THAT kind of nickname. Really, Jean, you need a codename!" Pietro insisted.  
"Firewoman?" Kurt suggested.  
"Maybe something more original," Ororo said.  
"What do you think, Jean?" Pietro asked.  
Jean thought about it. She felt new hope, as if she could start over. Almost as if she rose from the ashes.  
"Phoenix," Jean said.


	13. Chapter 13

"Hi, Eric!" Charles greeted him by the door.  
"Charles!" Eric's face lit up. They've been through so much together. Sometimes as friends, sometimes as enemies. But Charles has always been there for him when he thought he lost it all. He was always there to show him the goodness he thought he no longer had.  
"Oh my goodness! Hi!" Pietro said excited.  
Eric frowned at him, confused, "Hi. You're the quick one, correct?"  
"That's right!" Pietro smiled.  
"I see you still haven't brought the whole school down," Eric smirked at Jean.  
"No, not yet," Jean said, half a smile forming on her face.  
"You!" Eric gasped when he saw Logan.  
"Hi, did ya miss me?" Logan was still mad at him for nearly drowning him, but he remembered that one day they will get along.  
"Sorry about...that," Eric said with a hint of regret. And if Charles wasn't in the room with them, he so would be.  
"Peaceful thoughts," Logan thought. Or was trying to think.  
"Hello, everyone!" Raven walked in.  
"Raven!" Hank hugged her immediately. She left him again without any explanation, but he was so happy to see her that none of it mattered in that moment.  
"I am loving this reunion, but we need to talk strategy now," professor said.

They came into the dinning area and sat at the table.  
"Go on, Eric, tell us everything," Charles said.  
"Actually, I think Mystique should start," Eric said. He never called her Raven. She would always be Mystique to him, and Raven to Hank.  
Charles gestured for Raven to speak.  
"I left the school to see if there were other threats for us, mutants," she said, "I was looking for people with ties to Trask, and I found one. His name is Henry Gyrich, but you already know that. After Trask got arrested, Gyrich tried to persuade the government that they needed to continue Trask's research, and also that Trask was right and they should have wiped us out a long time ago. He didn't get much support until Apocalypse showed up."  
"Just one mutant to persuade everyone that our entire kind must be destroyed?" Logan asked.  
"A very powerful mutant that nearly destroyed the world," Charles said. He always defended the humans. He understood their fear.  
"This is my fault as well," Ororo said ashamed, "I was helping him..."  
"He manipulated you, Storm," Charles said, "and Eric, before you say something as well, let's concentrate on how to avoid the carnage instead of who's fault it was."  
"He didn't persuade everyone, most of the government officials know nothing about it," Raven continued, "There's a lot of secrecy around this...project. I only found out thanks to my ability to shape-shift," she said, changing into her natural blue form.  
"So they are going to attack us without most of the government knowing about it? How do they plan to get away with it?" Jean asked.  
"They are going to blow up some kind of a sewer system. There's supposed to be a group of mutants living in it," Raven said.  
"Morlocks," Logan said.  
"You know them?" Charles asked.  
"Yeah. Can't say I've only had pleasant experiences with them," he said.  
"Anyway, they want to blame other mutants for this," Raven said.  
"Us? Why would we kill our own?" Scott asked.  
"Because they don't have abilities like we do, they only look different. They want to make it look like we're doing the "cleansing process"," Eric said.  
"We need to save them," Charles said, determined.  
"They can be a real pain in the ass," Logan sighed.  
"We can't give them the excuse to attack us. Besides, they might be grateful to us for saving them," Charles said.  
"Guess it's worth the shot," Logan agreed.  
"How about the sentinels?" Jean asked.  
"They have a lot of the same abilities we do. Sadly, they found and experimented on more mutants. They found more abilities to transfer into the sentinels. And now they can sense the powers of the mutant they're looking at. They will be ready to counter us before we even make a move," Eric said, shaking his head.  
"So we need someone to distract them while someone else attacks from behind," Scott said.  
"I thought of that, but that won't work if they send dozens of sentinels. We don't have enough manpower," Eric said sadly.  
"Yeah, we do," Pietro looked at Jean.  
Eric perked up, intrigued. He's never seen her powers, but he knew she played a big role in defeating Apocalypse. He knew she was one of the most powerful mutants in the world.  
"I'm all ears," he said as he turned to Jean.  
"Basically, I can vaporize anything in a split second," Jean said.  
"That sounds good. What's the catch?" Eric asked sensing uneasiness in Jean's tone.  
"I am still learning how to control it. He is the reason the school is still standing," she said looking at Logan.  
"When are they planning on blowing up the sewer system?" Charles asked.  
"Four days from now. They'll send the sentinels at us a day after that, and maybe to a couple different locations. We weren't able to find out. They'll claim the reason for attacking us is that if we think mutants without abilities are below us, we surely think the same about humans," Eric said.  
"But ya actually think that," Logan pointed out.  
"I'm getting better about it," Eric said defensively.  
While they were talking about the sentinels, Raven and Hank started whispering to one another.  
"I missed you," Raven said.  
"Why did you leave then?" Hank asked.  
"I just told you why..."  
"Yes, to look for danger...and to find Eric. It's always been him," he said bitterly.  
"I was looking after him because I didn't know for sure if he could stay out of trouble. And it hasn't always been him."  
"Raven, please..."  
"It's also been you."  
"You just left us, you didn't even say where you were going."  
"I only left to look after us, and I was right. You trained them well, they didn't need me anymore."  
"I needed you!" Hank wasn't whispering anymore.  
Everybody stopped talking at once. Jean felt Raven's and Hank's emotions so intensely, it made her tear up.  
"What's wrong, Jeannie?" Logan asked.  
"I just feel their pain," she said.  
"Everybody take a break. We'll talk more about this later," professor said.  
Eric rose from his chair.  
"Go tell him!" Kurt whispered to Pietro.  
"I'm not sure if this is the right time..." Pietro said.  
"There never is!"

Eric, Jean, and Logan left the dinning room first, followed by everyone else except for Raven and Hank. They were left there on purpose so they could talk it out in private.  
"Was there anything else you were going to say?" Charles asked Eric.  
"That was pretty much it," Eric shrugged.  
"Okay. While Raven and Hank are catching up, I want you all to think about what we should do. Then we'll listen to everyone's ideas and make a plan. I'll be outside if you need anything. Fresh air helps me think," Charles said.  
"You know what, that sounds like a great idea!" Jean said. Taking a walk and thinking every evening has become a routine for her recently.  
"Let's just all go then!" Eric said.

Jean looked around. Professor and Moira were next to his second favorite tree. His absolute favorite was unfortunately destroyed by Scott when he tested he powers. Kurt and Scott seemed heavily engaged in discussing their ideas, while Ororo and Jubilee seemed to be talking about something totally different. Then she spotted Pietro slowly walking up to Eric. He was very nervous. He kept stopping and taking a deep breath after every couple of steps he took.  
"Are you going to tell him?" Jean asked him telepathically.  
Pietro turned around searching for her.  
"Should I?" he thought when he found her.  
"Yes, hurry!" she said when Eric headed over to professor.  
Pietro started walking with more confidence, but Eric was already very close to Charles.  
"I could use my super speed, but that would freak him out," he thought.  
"Arrrgh!" Jean grunted in frustration when Eric reached the professor.  
Pietro shrugged his shoulders, "Next time!" he thought.  
"What was that?" Logan asked.  
"Don't freak out," Jean spoke very softly, "but Magneto is Quicksilver's father."  
"WHAT?!" Logan shouted, startling everyone.  
"Shhhhh," Jean placed her finger on his mouth.  
"What?" he whispered.  
"I know, crazy, right?"  
"But how did that happen? I mean, I know how it happened...but...so Magneto doesn't know?"  
"No, he hasn't told him yet."  
"Wow, Eric is in for a surprise," Logan chuckled.  
"If Quicksilver ever tells him," Jean rolled her eyes.  
"You had quite a day today. How ya feelin', Red?" Logan asked.  
"Really good, actually," she said before she kissed him.  
"Well, I feel good myself," he smiled.  
"Can I ask you something?"  
"Anythin'."  
"What did Scott want from you in the danger room?"  
"He came to apologize for the other day."  
"Oh really, that's great! I forgot to ask why you two got in a fight in the first place," she said.  
"We both lost our temper," Logan admitted, "but it started when he asked me what we were doin' in the danger room after practices."  
"Oh my goodness," Jean could totally imagine what Logan's answer was.  
"D'ya know who told him? It's been buggin' me for a while."  
"No, sorry."  
"Too bad. I'd like to know if I owe the Elf an apology."  
"Elf?" Jean asked confused.  
"Nightcrawler," Logan said.  
"Oh, I see the resemblance," she laughed.  
Ororo and Jubilee walked up to them.  
"Hi guys, what are you talking about?" Jubilee asked.  
"We were wondering who told Scott about us practicing alone before he nearly challenged Logan to a duel," Jean said.  
"Oh. That would actually be me," Jubilee took a step back just in case Logan's temper gets the best of him.  
"You're the blabbermouth!" Logan said.  
"Yeah...I'm sorry," she said, giving Logan her best puppy eyes.  
"Well, looks like you owe the Elf an apology," Jean said smiling.


	14. Chapter 14

Pietro looked in the dinning room carefully, as if there were danger lurking around instead of Hank and Raven catching up on old times. They seemed calm, so Pietro said, "Okay, I think we can come in."  
"Everything okay?" Charles asked Raven and Hank. They seemed a bit emotionally spent, but they gave him a nod. They were ready to talk about what needs to be done.  
"Sit down, everyone," Charles said. After all of them took a seat, Charles continued, "It's absolutely crucial that we save those Morlocks. Not only we'll save them, we'll save many other mutants by not giving Gyrich an excuse for a retaliation." The group nodded in agreement.  
"You said they live in a sewer system?" Charles asked Raven.  
"Yes, apparently, they don't feel safe walking on the streets," she answered.  
"Do you know how or what time they're going to blow it up?" Charles asked.  
"No, I was lucky I was able to find out the date. They had that mutant detector on them almost all the time," she said sadly.  
"You found out quite a lot anyway, Raven," he touched her hand to cheer her up, "We'll just have to get them out of there early in the morning then. If we don't know the time, it'll be too risky to look for and deactivate explosives," he said.  
"How do we persuade them to leave the only place they feel safe if we can't prove they're about to die in there?" Eric made a good point.  
"I can help with that," Jean said with confidence, "I'll make them think they're in danger," she said pointing at her temple.  
"There'll be a lot of people in there, can you do that to all of them in time?" Raven asked.  
"I don't know, hopefully. Maybe if they see a few of them leave, the rest will follow," Jean said.  
"I know that sewer system. I'll help ya get in," Logan said.  
"Alright, so Jean and Logan are going. Who else wants to join them? Not everyone can go, I need some people here protecting the school just in case they change plans and attack us earlier," Charles said.  
"I'll go with them. The sentinels aren't made of metal, so I won't be much use against them," Eric said.  
"I'll go, too," Scott said.  
Charles didn't like that idea. Scott's and Logan's peace was still fresh, and this was an important mission. He didn't want their personal feelings getting in the way.  
"Actually, Scott, I'd really like you to stay here with me, if you don't mind," Charles said hoping he wouldn't be upset.  
"That's fine, I don't mind," Scott said even though he did. He wanted to look after Jean, but he wasn't going to argue now.  
"Quicksilver, Storm, how about you?" Charles asked.  
"I'm in," Ororo said.  
Pietro didn't seem happy about it. "Hmmm, a pretty girl, a hot couple, and an awkward father/son duo on a mission. That sounds rather interesting," he thought. Plus Jean would probably telepathically push him into finally telling Magneto.  
"If the explosion happens with someone still inside, you're the only one who can get them out of there," Charles said.  
"Fair point. I'll go," Pietro decided.  
"Then it's settled. Magneto, Quicksilver, Storm, Wolverine and...Phoenix," Charles winked at Jean, "will go to the sewers, the rest of them are staying here with me just in case," he added.  
"How about the sentinels? We need a plan for them too," Hank said.  
"Yes, I was thinking we'll meet up in the danger room tonight and practice on the ones we have," Charles said.  
"Wait a minute, you have the sentinels in here?" Eric asked surprised.  
"Yes, all of those that Trask sent after us. Minus the one Wolverine damaged," Charles gave Logan a look.  
Logan put his hands in the air and mouthed, "Oops."  
"Go get some rest. I want to see all of you in the danger room at 5 pm," Charles said.

"Hey, Nightcrawler," Logan caught up to him as they left the dinning room.  
"Yes?" he asked smiling.  
"I owe ya an apology."  
"For what?" Kurt has already forgotten about Logan suspecting him of blabbering.  
"I was kinda interrogatin' ya the other day. When Scott found out I was spendin' time with Jean in the danger room after practices."  
"Oh yeah. Don't worry about it," Kurt friendly tapped Logan's shoulder.  
"Still...I'm sorry."  
"Who was it?" Kurt was curious.  
"Jubilee," Logan rolled his eyes.  
Kurt laughed. "Well, at least now there won't be any rumors about you two. It's all out there..." Kurt meaningfully raised his eyebrows.

Logan and Jean sat on the couch in the living room. They had half an hour until the sentinel practice. Jean realized there was nothing else to practice on since she "phoenixed" the hell out of the obstacle course. Perhaps she owed Kurt an apology as well.  
"Why would anyone live in a sewer system?" Jean asked.  
"It's actually a former bomb shelter. It was built during the Cold war. Not a typical sewer system at all. Although it still stinks," Logan said.  
"And you've met the Morlocks before?" Jean was curious to learn about the old timeline.  
"I did. Most of them are rejects just hidin' from other people."  
"And they don't have any abilities?"  
"Most of 'em don't. But some of 'em do. Their leader - Callisto, she can sense other mutants."  
"It's good that you know them," Jean said, "with your knowledge and my telepathy, we'll be able to earn their trust. Maybe they'll be useful against the sentinels."  
"You're a savvy schemer, Red, I like it," Logan said impressed.  
"Did I like you in the old timeline?" Jean asked.  
"Ya sure did. But ya never admitted it," Logan said with a touch of melancholy.  
"Then how did you know I liked you?"  
"Couple things," he studied her, "the way your heart pounded when I was around, your breathing become really fast," he trailed his fingertips down her chest. His voice was a perfect mixture of roughness and softness, putting Jean in a trance. Her heart was pounding just like Logan said. She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip subconsciously.  
"That too," he touched her lip lightly before he kissed her.  
"How do you know all that?" Jean whispered.  
"Ya got your mind reading, and I got my sharp senses," he said.  
They both wished they were alone, and had more time before practice. Jean took a deep breath to steady her heart-beat.  
"I wonder why I never admitted it," she thought out loud.  
Logan sighed, knowing very well why she didn't. Should he tell her? This wasn't something he wanted to talk about, but he didn't want to keep any secrets from her.  
"What is it, Logan?" she asked.  
"Nothin', it's just...I don't know if I should tell you..."  
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," Jean reassured him.  
"When...when we met, you were with someone else. I think you were happy until I got in the mix. Then ya weren't sure...I think ya felt..."  
"Stuck," Jean finished for him.  
"Yeah. I never stayed for long, 'cause I didn't wanna confuse you even more. And I might have thrown away any chance I had with ya," he spoke so quietly, Jean barely heard him.  
"Logan, it's..."  
"I should have been there for ya."  
"Logan, none of it matters anymore. We're here and now. That's all I care about. I love you," Jean didn't plan on saying it, it just came out. So naturally, so easily.  
"What?" Logan stopped breathing for a second. Did he hear that right?  
Jean's mouth was half open, she couldn't believe she said it so instinctively. She knew she had feelings for him, but it wasn't until she said it she understood just how strong they were.  
"I love you," she said it again, looking right into his eyes.  
Logan was in disbelief. He finally heard her say it after waiting so long. He felt his heart melt.  
He took her hands in his, "I love you Jeannie. I always will."


	15. Chapter 15

"Remember, the sentinels you are going to fight in a few days can not only copy your powers, they'll know what they are before you get to use them," professor said as he watched his X-Men train.  
Ororo hit a sentinel with electricity, quickly moved away and let Scott who was out the sentinel's sight blast it with an energy beam.  
"Thanks, Cyclops!" Ororo said as she lit up another one.  
Pietro used his speed to draw one away from Hank, who used the distraction to punch the sentinel a few times, "Damn, these things are tough!" he said.  
"Beast, over here!" Raven called after him.  
"Go, I'll finish this one," Pietro said.  
Jubilee was throwing fireworks at another one. The sentinel was getting close to her, plasmoids forming in his chest, copying her ability.  
"Jubilee, watch out!" Scott yelled. Kurt came in, and was able to get her away from the blast in time, "You okay?" he asked.  
"Yes, thank you!" Jubilee said relieved.  
Raven played a bait, avoiding the sentinel's attacks quickly and gracefully, giving Hank time to pick his shots. "Move, Raven!" he said as he grabbed the sentinel and dropped him down like a sack of potatoes.  
"Nice!" Raven said.  
Meanwhile Logan was using brute force. He got stabbed by the sentinel's devices a couple times, but he healed instantly. "Ya know I get pissed easily, right?" he said before he clawed away at the mutant killer machine, picked it up and threw it at the one that was attacking Scott earlier. "Ya welcome, Cyke!" he said and made a courtesy.  
Pietro had his hands full with one of them and didn't notice another one approaching him. Thankfully, Jean noticed. "Quicksilver, get ready for a takeoff!" she said. She swiftly moved her arms. Using her telekinesis, she sent Pietro flying in the air right into Ororo's arms, and she sent one sentinel crashing into the other. Very much like Logan has done.  
"You two really belong together," professor shook his head watching Jean and Logan.  
"Hey, Quickie, what's up?" Ororo asked as she softly landed with him.  
"Never been better!" he smiled at her.  
"Okay, we've landed, you don't have to hold on to me anymore."  
"Oh, right. Got a little carried away there..."  
"Careful Jubilee, that one throws energy beams," Kurt warned.  
"Let him throw!" Jean said. She telekinetically reflected the energy back at the sentinel. Logan jumped in and finished it off with claws to the head.  
"Good team work, you two," Jubilee said.  
Ororo shot a lightning at another one, then Scott ended it with a blast.  
This went on for a few more minutes until they finished the last remaining one. They actually wore out the though, durable sentinels.  
"If we can do that to the ones they're sending after us, we're good," Jubilee said.  
Raven was kneeling by the one that Hank dropped. "I think this one is totaled," she said. Hank smiled, and gave her a hand to help her up. Not that she needed help, he just couldn't resist any opportunity to be close to her. Raven took his hand, "See? We're still a team!" she said cheerfully as she stood up.  
"Yeah. I'll always be your teammate," Hank smiled, "That sounded much better in my head," he added.  
"You good, man?" Kurt came up to Scott, and touched his face, arms and chest.  
"Seriously dude, I'm fine!" Scott said pushing him away.  
"Awesome!" Kurt said as he hugged him.  
"I'm glad you're okay too," Scott said as he reluctantly hugged him back.  
"Do I get a hug?" Logan grinned at Jean, spreading his arms.  
Jean rushed in and gave him a long kiss instead.  
"Charles, I must say I'm impressed!" Eric said.  
"Yeah, seems like a hell of a kiss," Charles joked.  
Eric laughed out loud, "I meant their fighting skills, but sure."  
"I've known them since they were scared individuals, unsure of their capabilities. Look at them now! They will save our kind once again, and make one step closer to achieve peace between humans and mutants," Charles said.  
"I really hope you're right, Charles."

Jean was at Hank's office. It was time to remove the stitches. She was surprised they remained intact through the last few days.  
"You must have done a very good job, Hank! It lasted through two brutal practices and a few of my Phoenix outbursts," she said.  
"And an encounter with Wolverine..." Hank added.  
Jean covered her flushed face, "Yeah, for real!" she said laughing.  
"I'll always be grateful to him for finding Charles who was able to stop Raven from making a huge mistake," Hank said.  
"You know about it?" Jean asked.  
"I do, I was there that day."  
"But how come you didn't recognize him when he came here?"  
"I did. But he acted very strange, he seemed to not remember me at all. I didn't know what his plans were. That's why I insisted on him telling me who he was and what he wanted from Charles. Then you showed up, and I figured you'd hear his thoughts and knew if it was safe to have him around."  
"He really didn't remember you. It took a very powerful memory to make him remember the old timeline and the time travel," she said, "How was he the day he came to you and the professor?" Jean asked.  
"He was strong. Determined," Hank said while removing her stitches, "He did all he could to change the future. And I'm not only talking about the war that was about to happen. There was something more that drove him. I didn't know what it was at first, but now I do," he said.  
"What was it then?" Jean asked.  
"It was that kind of determination you have only when someone you love very deeply is concerned. It all made sense when I saw your true abilities. He wanted to stop your powers from taking control over you in the future. He wanted to save you, and he would sacrifice everything to do so. I know this because..."  
"Because you would do the same for Raven," Jean finished for him, "She loves you," she said.  
"Did she tell you that?"  
"No, but I can feel it," she said.  
He loved her as well, no doubt about it. But would they actually end up together one day? Would she stop running and stay with him at the school?  
"Okay, looks like it healed very well. The scar will fade in time, it'll barely be visible," Hank said.  
"Thank you, Hank," Jean smiled.

"Will ya join in next time, or you'll just watch the show again?" Logan teased Eric.  
"Well, I'm not sure what use I'll be against non-metal machines, but I'll figure something out," Eric said.  
"D'ya really believe there will be peace between humans and mutants? Or ya just sayin' it to make Charles happy?"  
"I honestly don't know," Eric admitted, "But Charles has proven me wrong many times. I need to trust him on this," he said.  
"Ya better not betray us this time," Logan said, "Last time I trusted ya I ended up under water."  
"Again, I'm sorry. And no, I won't betray you. You can ask Jean to read my mind if you don't believe me."  
"What d'ya think about Quicksilver?" Logan asked.  
"Quicksilver?" Eric was surprised by the question, "A little goofy, but seems very reliable," he said.  
"So ya like him?" Logan smiled.  
Eric frowned. What was this all about? "I do," he shrugged, "Why are you asking?"  
"We're 'bout to go on a mission with him. Just wanted to know your opinion," Logan said.  
"I so can't wait till he finds out!" Logan thought.

Jean walked out of Hank's office and ran into Moira.  
"Hi, Moira!" Jean greeted her cheerfully.  
"Hi, Jean, I was looking for you!" she said, holding a big gift bag in her hands.  
"Well, you found me! What's going on?"  
"Charles told me about Scott accidentally cutting your uniform."  
"It was more of my fault, really, I got distracted."  
"He also told me about your Phoenix powers," she said. "I thought this would go nicely with them," she handed her the gift bag.  
Jean was curious and excited to find out what was in it. She looked in, and pulled out a brand new uniform. It was mostly red, fiery red with hints of yellow on the sides, and a yellow phoenix in the chest area. Jean was lost for words, "Moira, this is...beautiful," she said.  
"I'm glad you like it. It should fit you well," Moira said smiling.  
"Oh my goodness...thank you so much!" Jean hugged her, barely holding tears in.  
"You're very welcome, Jean! And I just want to tell you that Charles believes in you, and so do I," she said.  
This was it for Jean, she couldn't hold the tears back any longer, "I am so moved, Moira. I can't thank you guys enough," she said.  
"Just kick the sentinels' asses for me," Moira laughed.  
"I will," Jean said, "And I'll proudly wear it as I do so."


	16. Chapter 16

Warning: This chapter contains mature content. Read at your own risk. ;)

Tomorrow, the chosen five were going to go on a rescue mission. Jean, Eric, Pietro and Ororo were picking Logan's brain about the location of the former bomb shelter, and what they could expect from the Morlocks.  
"Well, they're definitely...different," Logan said.  
"Can you be more specific?" Eric asked.  
"They're very hostile to anyone that's not one of them. What they lack in mutant abilities, they make up in fightin' skills."  
"So you're saying we won't be welcome with open arms," Pietro stated the obvious.  
"Afraid not," Logan sighed, "But their leader - Callisto has a thing for powerful mutants. Like you, Eric," Logan grinned.  
Eric looked up at the ceiling, but kept himself from rolling his eyes.  
"She'll love Jean," Logan said.  
"Lots of people do, apparently," Eric said looking straight at Logan. Did he mean just Logan or Scott as well?  
"Okay, now that we got that out of the way," Jean said, "let's circle back to the plan, please."  
"They're sneaky, and there'll be a lot of 'em. We'll most likely get trapped," Logan said.  
"Shouldn't we try to avoid that?" Ororo asked.  
"Getting trapped may actually benefit us," Eric said, "We need to persuade as many of them as possible that they're in danger. We won't have time to talk to each one of them individually. Jean, can you use your telepathy to make them believe us?"  
"I can definitely persuade some of them at once. But I've never tried it on too many people at the same time," she said.  
"Worst case scenario, I can get a lot of them out of there quickly if it comes to that..." Pietro said, by "that" meaning the explosion.  
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Eric said concerned.  
Logan and Jean looked at each other, and then at Pietro.  
"He's worried about you," Jean told Pietro telepathically.  
Ororo smiled. "You better tell him soon," she thought.

"There may not be enough time to fill you in when you come back from the sewers, so we need to talk about this now," Charles said.  
"Go on, Charles," Eric said.  
"When the sentinels show up, we need to drive them away from the school as far as possible," Charles said.  
"Obviously," Logan said what everyone else thought.  
"Yes, but there's a problem. When we drive them away from the school, we may drive them towards innocent people," Charles was concerned about human casualties.  
"I thought the sentinels don't hurt humans," Raven said.  
"They don't, but you might. Accidentally, of course," he said. Jean knew he meant mainly her.  
"We have to get them out of harms way," Charles added.  
"What d'ya suggest?" Logan asked.  
"I'll enter the minds of as many people as I can, and push them into a different direction than you and the sentinels will be going," he said.  
"I can help with that. And maybe some Morlocks will help us get people we don't reach into safety," Jean said.  
"I disagree with that. We'll need Jean with us," Eric hasn't even seen her powers yet, but he knew she was the only one that could stop them. Just like she did Apocalypse.  
"We can't have her unleash that kind of power right away. Jean and I will take care of the people while you drive the sentinels away from them and from the school. After that you step back, and let Jean handle the rest," Charles said, confident with his plan.  
"So I'll be in reserve for a while," Jean smiled remembering what she learned about battles in a History class.  
"Precisely," Charles smiled back, "Any questions?", he asked.  
"None, General X," Logan said in good fun.  
"Alright then," he laughed.  
"We should do something fun tonight!" Pietro said.  
"Like what, go out?" Jubilee asked.  
"I think we should hang out here together. You know, have a good time," Kurt said. He never realized how much he loved this school until it was in danger.  
"Ya speak my mind, Nightcrawler!" Logan said.

Charles and Eric were playing chess. It was their favorite thing to do.  
"For having such a strong mind, you sure stink at chess," Eric teased.  
"I'm most focused on having a good time. I don't need to prove myself to everyone all the time," Charles teased back.  
"Ouch," Eric said as he was about to make a winning move. He moved the piece with his mind, as he often did, but this time, Jean intercepted it with her telekinesis. The piece landed in a wrong spot.  
"You!" Eric glared at Jean who was standing a few feet away from them.  
"I have no idea what you mean," she shrugged innocently, but her eyes gave her away.  
"Ya better be nice to her, Eric, she's a real powerhouse," Logan laughed, sitting at the bar with Kurt.  
"Well, I guess you would know," Eric raised his eyebrow, letting everyone know what he meant.  
"Oh, ya have no idea," Logan thought.  
Moira was painting Ororo's nails by the open window. Ororo was feeling the pressure and Moira tried to take her mind off of it.  
"What do you think of the color?" Moira asked.  
"Glittery silver, that's all me," she said.  
"It's okay to be scared,' Moira said.  
"It's not so much that I'm scared, it's just...I still feel like I caused this to happen," she said with guilt.  
"Apocalypse did. And the ignorant ones unable to judge the group of people fairly," Moira said, "Besides, you have a chance to make it right this time. Channel all your feelings into it."  
"Thank you, Moira, you're a good friend."  
She became a sort of therapist for the X-Men in recent weeks, even to Charles. Maybe that was her ability.  
Jubilee and Scott were sitting on the couch. They have formed a strong friendship since Logan showed up.  
"Do you think I'll be useful against the sentinels?" Jubilee asked.  
"Of course you will!" Scott said.  
"I wasn't in training," she said sadly.  
"Just because Nightcrawler helped you out doesn't mean you weren't useful. Look at me, Storm saved my ass more than once!" Scott said.  
"I think I saw Wolverine help you out as well," Jubilee said.  
"Sure, rub it in," Scott said, cheering her up a bit.  
"What are you guys doing?" Jean made her way to the bar where Logan and Kurt were sitting.  
"Nothin' much. Teachin' our Elf here to drink whiskey," Logan said as he tapped Kurt on his back.  
"I'm not very good at it," Kurt cringed. He was so concerned with a burning taste in his mouth, he didn't notice Logan called him "Elf".  
"It takes time to be good at it," Logan laughed.  
Out of nowhere, Pietro started singing along to "The Pina Colada Song" as it came up on VH1, pretending that the remote control was a microphone. It sounded like he couldn't choose which scale he wanted to sing in.  
"Have you been teaching him as well?" Jean asked Logan.  
"For his sake, I wish I could say yes," Logan said.  
"I actually do need a drink after that," Kurt cringed from a completely different reason this time, as he was witnessing a musical murder.

It was getting late. Everybody already went to bed, but Logan and Jean. They were sitting on a couch in the living room.  
"I hope Kurt won't be too hungover tomorrow," Jean said.  
"Even if he is, he doesn't have a mission tomorrow. He can sleep it off," he said.  
"What is it, Jean?" Logan asked her when he sensed her mood change.  
Jean shook her head to say "nothing", but Logan wasn't buying it, "Come on, Red, tell me," Logan said as he brushed her hair with his fingers.  
Jean tried to find the right words to describe how she felt. "Well, the best way to describe it is...I guess I know how the people working on the Manhattan Project felt before they tested the bomb," she said.  
"Ya worried you're gonna cause a huge neutron chain reaction?" Logan joked.  
"Okay, I don't feel exactly like them," she smiled, "But there'll be a lot of sentinels there. I will have to hit them with everything I have," she said.  
"And ya worry the blast will be too much," Logan understood.  
"Yes, exactly," she said sadly.  
"That won't happen, Jeannie. You and Charles will get the people into safety while we draw the damn things away, and then you'll come in and save the day," he said cheerfully.  
"But what if you're not far enough from it? What if it spreads miles across?" Jean asked horrified at the prospect.  
"I don't think that's gonna happen. But if it does and this is my last night with you, I ain't wastin' it," he said as he pulled her on top of him.  
Logan leaned back on the couch with Jean in his arms sitting right on top of him. He kissed her lips as if this truly was their last night. He caressed Jean's soft thigh and then went higher to squeeze her round butt. His other hand played with Jean's silky hair. Jean started kissing his neck very lightly. He felt Jean's full lips and hot breath on him, and he wanted more. He stopped playing with her hair, and stuck his hand underneath her shirt. Logan touched Jean's flat stomach, and she wished he would either move up or down. His hand then cupped her firm breast. "Ahhh," Jean moaned right next to his ear. She moved her hips in a circular motion, teasing him, fully feeling Logan's erection through his jeans.  
"Jeannie," he whispered. She was getting hot herself. Logan could smell her arousal. He picked himself off the couch, holding her tightly. He carried her quickly to her room, and grunted in frustration when he couldn't open the door right away with Jean still in his arms. She reached behind her back and opened the door for him. Logan walked in and gently let her down on the floor. He looked her, she was so beautiful, and so ready for him. Jean gave him a quick kiss before she took his shirt off, and let it fall on the ground, just like the first time he was there. Jean then noticed the door was still open and she used her telekinesis to slam it shut. She then admired Logan's gorgeous hard body. Every muscle as if carved by a world class sculptor.  
"You're gorgeous," she said as she touched his arms and chest. Her touch sent a wave of adrenaline through him, his jeans were painfully tight. Jean read his thoughts and took his belt off, and pulled down the zipper telekinetically. It was Logan's turn to take her shirt off. He was lost for words every time he saw her. She was the definition of beauty, pure perfection. He took her bra off and kissed her beautiful breasts. He circled his tongue around her nipple, and tightly cupped the other breast. It was right on the verge of pain but it felt so good. Jean inhaled sharply. She gave his pants a pull and let them drop down. Logan didn't wait long and pulled Jean's little shorts down as well. He picked her up again and carried her on her bed. Their lips and tongues met in a passionate dance. She tasted so sweet and her incredible scent was driving his senses crazy. "My Goddess," he whispered between kisses. She made him feel things he never felt before. He needed her so badly. His arm roamed around her body, touching her soft skin. He went farther and farther down. He found her clit and started rubbing it with his fingers. Jean was very responsive to his touch, sweet tension controlling her body. She moaned softly, and involuntarily leaned her head back. Logan's free hand found her chin and then gently pulled her head back down so he could see her face. He wanted to see her as she was riding waves of pleasure, he wanted to see how good he made her feel. Jean's hand went down as well. She rubbed Logan's impressive length up and down slowly. All of a sudden, Logan stopped, leaving her panting and wanting more. Jean looked at him as he licked his fingers that he was pleasuring her with just seconds ago. It made Jean's heart beat even quicker. Logan then put his fingers to her lips, touching them softly. Jean licked his fingers as well. "Logan, I need you inside me..." Jean said, nearly pleading. He placed himself in between her long legs, and slowly put his entire length in her hot wet opening.  
"Oh yeah," Jean moaned. Logan rocked back and forth rhythmically, enjoying their physical and psychological union. He caressed her hip and grabbed her butt again, picking up speed. Jean wrapped her legs around his waist, and moved her hips to meet his. "Jeannie, ya feel so damn good," he whispered in her ear. She scratched his back, letting him know she was getting closer and closer. She scratched so hard, it drew blood. Logan grunted in pleasure and pain as his wounds sealed up. He grabbed her hands and pinned them down on the bed, taking full control over her. And it made her even more excited. She was his, all his. He nibbled on her neck gently, and noticed her breaths were becoming quicker and more shallow. He sped up even more and, making her moans louder and louder. Logan then let go of her hands, letting her hold onto him as she was about to reach orgasm. His strokes were hard and fast, he felt the walls of Jean's sex throbbing against him. "Yeah, Jeannie. Cum for me, darlin'..." Logan whispered as he wanted to give her the highest high she could ever experience. "Logan," she whispered between moans. "Logan," she said as she started to tremble all over. "LOGAN!" she screamed in pure ecstasy as she held onto him for dear life. Hearing Jean scream his name pushed him over the edge. "Oh, Jeannie," he said as he filled her up inside. "Oh Jeannie...oh Jeannie, oh Jeannie..." he kept on saying until it became just one long word. A word that symbolized his undying love for her. Jean still held onto him tight, never wanting to let him go. They were looking at each other, trying to catch a breath. He stroked her face gently, and she caressed his arms. And for this instant nothing mattered. Nothing else existed, only the two of them and their loving embrace.


	17. Chapter 17

It was still night time when the rescue crew got up and put on their uniforms. "How do you like your uniform, Logan?" Ororo asked.  
"Meh," he shrugged, "Little heavy with the yellow...but I think I can pull it off," he said, making Eric laugh.  
"The hell are ya laughin' at, magnet boy?" Logan asked, sounding more amused than annoyed. Eric shook his head, smiled, and put his helmet on.  
"Jean's supposed to have a new uniform," Ororo said, winking at Logan.  
"Surely not the most interesting sight he gets to see..." Pietro said.  
"Very subtle, Quicksilver," Ororo said sarcastically.  
Logan smiled remembering last night. The way they lost themselves in the moment, how the only thing on his mind was Jean, how she completely gave herself to him, and how damn good she felt. Barely any time has passed since then but he already missed her.  
"Good morning, early birds!" Jean said, walking up to them in her new uniform.  
Logan's jaw dropped. The new red uniform only enhanced her beauty. The yellow on the sides hugged her beautiful curves. Her long, silky red hair was loosely swept to one side, partially covering the yellow phoenix in the middle. She truly was his Red Goddess.  
"Oh my goodness, Jean! You look amazing!" Ororo said.  
"Thank you!," Jean smiled, "Do you like it?" Jean looked at Logan, who was lost for words.  
"Beautiful," was all he could say as he studied her like a renaissance painting. She was a work of art for sure. Jean blushed and looked away for a second.  
"Are you reading my thoughts?" Logan thought.  
Jean nodded an gave him an all knowing smile. "You're pretty handsome as well," she said. She still felt a bit lightheaded. The effects of Logan giving her a dose after dose of pleasure. She began to tremble just thinking about it. She wanted to be his again, she wanted to give him everything she had. She loved this man like she would never love anything else.  
Ororo caught Eric staring at Jean a little too long, "Seriously?!" she whispered.  
"I was just looking at the uniform!" he said defensively.  
"First you try to kill him, and now..."  
"That was ONE TIME! Can everybody just get over it already?"  
"Good morning!" Charles showed with all the other X-Men.  
"We came to wish you guys good luck," Hank said, sounding sleepy.  
"Although I don't think you'll need it," Charles said.  
"Be careful, Jean," Scott said, worried.  
"I will be. You watch over the school," she said.  
Scott nodded. He wanted to kiss her but he knew she wouldn't appreciated, and Wolverine definitely wouldn't. Jean gave him a hug, and went on to say goodbye to the rest of them.  
"Come back in one piece, okay?" Raven told Eric. Even though she loved Hank, Eric would always have a special place in her heart, as he was the one who made her embrace who she truly was.  
"Planning on it," he smiled as she wrapped her arms around him. "And you watch over her," he told Hank. He knew Raven's heart was his, and maybe that was for the best.  
"Stay safe, Eric," Hank said.  
Kurt hugged Pietro. "Come back soon, but please, no more singing," he said, making Pietro laugh.  
They all said their goodbyes, and it was time to go. The rescue crew walked out of the X Mansion, and looked at it really well for one last time. Hopefully, they'd find it looking the same way when they come back.  
"You say those tunnels are in The Alley?" Pietro asked Logan.  
"Yeah," Logan nodded.  
"I know where it is. I can take you there quickly," Pietro said. The group looked at each other.  
"That sounds great!" Ororo said.  
"Okay, but ya only take us to it. I'll lead the way into the bomb shelter," Logan said.  
"Sure," he said, and he disappeared with Ororo. In an instant, he was back for Jean, "Ladies first!", he said. He then took Logan, and left Eric for last.  
"Best for last!" Eric said as he appeared with Pietro in front of the rest of the group.  
"Sure," Logan chuckled.  
"Well, I must say, that was impressive!" Eric told Pietro. "It's like we didn't even travel. We just...appeared!"  
"I know, wouldn't it be great to have a so...," Jean stopped talking when Pietro pinched her arm, "ability like that?" she recovered.  
Eric looked at Jean, confused, "I suppose."  
"Ouch!" Jean whispered. Pietro put his finger to his lips, showing her to be quiet.  
"How do we get in?" Ororo asked.  
"There's a tunnel that goes underground over there. But there's lots secret paths. It's dark, and it's easy to get lost, so everybody stick with me," Logan said.  
"How will you know where to go in the dark?" Ororo asked.  
"My senses are sharp. Best navigation system ever," he said proudly.

"Wow, I really can't see anything!" Pietro said as they were walking down the tunnel.  
"Told ya," Logan said. He took Jean's hand to keep her close.  
"What are we actually looking for?" Jean asked.  
"Their headquarters, darlin'," he said affectionately.  
"How can they fit headquarters in here?" Eric wondered.  
"You'll see when we get to it," affection now completely gone from Logan's voice.  
"How do you put up with him, Jean?" Eric asked.  
"How does Raven put up with you?" Jean asked without thinking. Now she wished she could take it back. Eric was just having fun, but she hit the soft spot. "I'm sorry, I..." she apologized quickly.  
"That's okay," Eric's voice was flat, "She doesn't put up with me anymore."  
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jean asked.  
"There's not much to say. She deserves someone who didn't try to kill her," he said, remembering the whole Trask business. He said it as if it didn't pain him but Jean knew better.  
"Besides, I've had a family not too long ago." Eric couldn't believe he was opening up to them. He would barely share personal things with Charles. Maybe it was the prospect that this could be the last chance he'll get to talk about it. "No matter how hard you try to keep them safe, they'll end up dying on you," sadness crept into his voice.  
Now Logan understood why he was curious about him and Jean. He knew that Logan lost it all before, and yet he was putting his heart and sanity at risk again.  
"And as of right now, family would slow me down anyway," Eric said, coldly. Pietro could feel his heart sink. He was trying to gain courage to tell him, he was imagining the moment he finally finds out. Now he didn't know how he could ever tell him. Ororo squeezed Pietro's hand to show that she was there for him, even if Eric wasn't.  
"You're not scared of being slowed down, you're scared of experiencing another loss," Jean said.  
"You're a clever one, aren't you?" Eric said, annoyed, no longer enjoying the conversation.  
"Jeannie's got a point. Ya just too scared to get hurt. But I tell ya, Eric, I'd go through every damn thing that happened to me again and again to be here with her," he said, and he felt Jean lean onto him.  
They walked on in silence, when Logan abruptly stopped.  
"What is it?" Jean asked.  
Logan made a sniffing sound, "Someone's here."  
The lights came on, strange creatures emerging at them from every direction. Now they could see what a maze this truly was. They wouldn't be able to find a way out even if they managed to escape the Morlocks, unless Logan led them.  
"They trapped us," Pietro said.  
"I told ya that might happen," Logan shrugged.  
A lady in black took a few steps closer to them, "Well, well, who's gracing us with their presence?"


	18. Chapter 18

"What's up, Callisto?" Logan said, hoping to take some of her confidence away by revealing he knew her. He succeeded, she was taken aback. She looked at him carefully, hoping that a memory would pop in her head. Nothing.  
"Do we know each other?" she asked, confused. Callisto realized he had the upper hand, and in order to surprise him as well, she asked a bold question. "Have we had sex before?"  
Logan was unfazed. "God, no!" he answered all too quickly.  
If Callisto felt insulted, she didn't show it. "I probably wouldn't remember anyway," she shrugged.  
"I bet you would," Jean mumbled.  
"What are you doing here, and how do you know me?" Callisto asked, her tone sharp.  
"I don't know you, actually, only he does," Pietro said, pointing at Logan. "But you're in danger. You need to get out of here," he continued.  
"In danger, you say?" Callisto now stood in front of Pietro. "Well, ain't it nice, the all powerful mutants are here to help us," she spoke theatrically to her group. "Although, are you really all that powerful? What are you, like a class two, or three?" she smirked.  
"I guess I should feel insulted, but I have no idea what you're talking about," Pietro said, smiling.  
"Don't talk to him like that!" Ororo said. "Besides, that's still better than what you are," she spat at her.  
"Careful there, lady," Callisto said, pointing a finger at her. She moved towards her. "I sense that you have great abilities, but we got you outnumbered. By a lot."  
"Is this powerful enough for you?" Eric asked as he levitated all the Morlocks around him that had metal objects on them.  
"Now we're talking," Callisto said, intrigued.  
"Good," Eric said as he dropped them on the ground roughly. "Because you really need to listen to us. This place is going to blow up, and you're gonna get us all killed," Eric said, hint of impatience in his voice.  
"I can persuade you, anyway," Jean said, giving her a last chance to change her mind. Callisto now walked up to her.  
"You," she said, reaching for her face. Flames appeared in Jean's eyes, and it made her think twice about touching her. "Intrigue intensifies," Callisto said. "We got an omega level mutant here," she said, drawing gasps of awe from the crowd. "Since when do the all powerful mutants care for us?" she asked.  
"Since now," Jean said.  
"You just threatened to use your powers against us. For a caring mutant, you sure like to play dirty." Callisto tried to guilt her so she wouldn't use her powers. She didn't know what she could do, but whatever it was, it would be spectacular. "But I like you," she said, smiling at Jean. "How about I keep this one in exchange for letting the rest of you go in peace?" she now spoke to the rest of the X-Men.  
"How 'bout hell no!" Logan stood in front of Jean, protectively, and popped his claws.  
"We don't have time for this..." Eric sighed, impatiently.  
"You're the queen here, correct?" Ororo asked.  
"That's right," Callisto said, proudly.  
"I'll challenge you for the crown," Ororo said.  
"Are you nuts?!" Logan blurted out.  
Callisto felt uneasy. This woman had great abilities, and could easily beat her, but she couldn't refuse a challenge in front of her people. It would make her look weak and somebody else would challenge her for the crown anyway.  
"What is it, Callisto, are you afraid?" Ororo tried to get inside her head.  
"I ain't scared of single combat," she said. "But you do have an advantage."  
"I won't use my powers," Ororo said.  
This seemed reasonable enough to Callisto. "If you win, we do as you say. But if I win, I'm keeping one of you here. I want her," she pointed at Jean.  
Logan's chest puffed up, he was close to getting one of his raging fits.  
"Deal!" Jean said.  
"WHAT?!" Logan turned to her. "NO!" he said, firmly.  
"Logan," she spoke calmly.  
"Don't Logan me, this is a stupid idea!"  
"Already arguing like an old couple," Eric said.  
"Shut up, Eric!" Logan snapped at him.  
"We need them to trust us," she whispered. "When they're asked about today, we need them to speak highly of us. We need them to tell the public that we play fair. Give Ororo a chance."  
Logan took Jean's face in his hands, and looked her dead in the eyes. "Fair or not, ain't no way I'm leavin' ya here!"  
"I don't plan on staying," she winked. "But first, let's see if we can do it their way."  
"So we got a deal then!' Callisto said, enjoying the dramatic show Logan and Jean were putting on.  
Ororo nodded, and stared Callisto down. Logan shook his head, and put his palm on his forehead, frustrated.  
"Pick a weapon!" Callisto said.  
"Knives," Ororo decided.

They both took two knives, one for each hand. Ororo stood directly in front of her. "If you use your powers, the deal is off," Callisto said. Ororo took a few steps back and started walking in a circular path, sizing her up.  
"Ya better kick her ass, Storm!" Logan said.  
Callisto jumped forward quickly, trying to stab Ororo in the neck. No feeling out process for Callisto, it seemed. Ororo quickly side stepped. She kept her stance low, but she was very light on her feet, which allowed her to move fast. Callisto faked low with one knife, but tried to attack Ororo's neck with the other one again. Ororo was faster again, and not only she side stepped, she cut Callisto's arm as she did so. Callisto showed no pain, but signs of frustration were starting to appear on her face. Ororo now moved in a triangular path. She faked a direct attack, only to step to the side in the last second, and cutting her thigh. Callisto cried out in pain. "Now she's gonna get reckless," Ororo thought. Right as she thought so, Callisto charged at her like a woman possessed. There was no technique to her attacks, she just ran straight at her, trying to slash Ororo anywhere she could. Ororo kept an eye on Callisto's hips, and feet, so she knew where she was about to go. Ororo picked her angles well, and picked Callisto apart from the outside. She made sure she didn't hit any lethal spots. Callisto was getting tired, and Ororo was able to stab her in the hand, making her lose one of her knives. She dodged, as Callisto aimed at her face with the remaining knife she had, and stepped away so Callisto had her back to her. Ororo dropped her knives, and grabbed Callisto's hand. Using her other hand, she applied pressure on Callisto's elbow, forcing her to drop the second knife. Ororo then threw her to the ground. Morlocks were in shock, most of them covering their mouths, as the X-Men congratulated Ororo. Callisto lay on the ground, tired. She thought Ororo was about to kill her, but to her surprise, she only gave her a hand to help her up. "We don't kill," Ororo said. "I'm your queen now, and I command you to get the hell out of here!" she added.  
"Shhh," Logan said as he heard something. He listened carefully, and heard footsteps in a distance. Somebody must have been running away from them for a while now.  
"Quicksilver, go check it out!" Logan said as he pointed in the direction the footsteps were coming from.  
Pietro left and came back in a split second, holding a guy, who was scared out of his mind.  
"I don't know this one!" Callisto said, stunned.  
"Where d'ya think you're goin', runnin' man?" Logan asked.  
Callisto finally realized there was no trick, no deceitful plan in motion, they really came there to help. Was it too late to get out now?


	19. Chapter 19

"I asked ya a question!" Logan said, bringing his claws close to the runner's face. Jean stepped in, concentrated, and commanded his brain to tell them what he knew.  
"I was sent here to make sure everything was going as planned, that the explosives were ready to go, and as many Morlocks stayed trapped in here as possible," the guy said.  
"When is it going to blow up?" Jean asked.  
"Last time I looked, it said ten minutes, but it's probably down to half that now," he spoke as if he were in trance. This man wasn't very bright, Jean thought. He was still hanging out here minutes before the explosion was set to go, and he nearly trapped himself with the rest of them. "I really hope that similarly bright people were in charge of the new sentinels," she thought.  
Morlocks started to panic. This was a big place with lots of of dead ends. And even when they turned the lights on, there were still some corridors left in complete darkness. And if they really had just five minutes left, they'd be cutting it close. Everybody took off running. Ororo grabbed the running man, and ran after the others. Callisto was the only one who stayed still. "How did I not notice him?" she asked herself. She felt like she let her people down. And now, they weren't even her people. They had a new queen. "Come on, we gotta go!" Jean took her arm, and ran.  
There was mass confusion going on in the tunnels. People tripping, and bumping into each other. "Ya people are useless!" Logan called it as he saw it.  
After what seemed like forever, they finally reached the exit. They walked out of the tunnels right as the sun was coming out.  
"Jeannie, where are ya?" Logan called for her. She was right next to him but he must have lost her in one of the dark corridors where people tripped over each other.  
"Jeannie?" he called again, worried.  
"Right here!" she yelled, running towards him.  
"Oh, thank God!" Logan sighed relieved as he took her in his arms.  
"Everybody okay?" Ororo asked.  
"Yeah. That was amazing, by the way!" Jean said, talking about her dominant performance against Callisto.  
"Yeah, not bad at all," Logan was more impressed than he let her know.  
"Oh no!" Callisto said. In all the chaos, she forgot that Ape, Annalee, and Masque were still in the headquarters with no way of knowing what was about to happen. "I left three people behind!" she said, horrified.  
"I'll go find them," Pietro volunteered.  
"Are you crazy? You don't even know where it is!" Eric said, worried.  
"I'll find them, I can search very quickly," Pietro said. He was about to go, but Eric held onto his arm.  
"You probably have less than a minute left!" Eric nearly begged him not to go.  
"Plenty of time," Pietro smiled, and just like that, he was gone.  
"Don't worry, he's got it," Ororo told Eric.  
"Who is trying to kills us?" Callisto asked.  
"A man named Henry Gyrich," Jean said.  
"I don't even know who he is. Why would he do that?"  
"It's not really you he's after. He was going to use the Morlock massacre as a reason to go after us. He was going to persuade the public that we did this to you to start the "cleansing process". And if we do this to you, we do this to humans," Jean said.  
"Well, he just gave me an excuse to kill him," Callisto said, furious.  
"I would not recommend it," Eric said. "Not that I don't want to kill him myself, but my friend nearly did something similar in the past." Or was it the future past? "It almost started an all out war on mutants," he finished.  
"Then I'll kill this one!" Callisto said, looking at the scared runner.  
"Pissin' ya pants yet?" Logan smirked at him.  
"No, we can't kill humans if we want them to like us, can we?" Ororo said. "Besides, maybe he can be useful to us."  
"Well, new queen, what would you like us to do now?" Callisto asked Ororo.  
"I'd like you to listen to us next time," Ororo scolded. "And maybe take better care of yourselves in the future."  
"I know, I totally failed," Callisto's voice faded.  
"You'll get a chance to fix it. I'm giving you your leadership back."  
Callisto looked at her, surprised.  
"I got these to take care of," Ororo pointed at her friends, smiling. "I trust that you will do a better job in the future."  
Callisto nodded, silently.

Meanwhile, Pietro was flying through the tunnels, looking for the headquarters. There were so many passages, it would have taken hours to go through them all in a normal speed. Then he found it, the actual bomb shelter. It was much larger than he imagined. This could have made a great underground base for them. Shame that it was about to blow up. He took the remaining Morlocks out of there, one by one, and placed them outside next to Callisto. Time seemed to slow down more and more the faster he went, just like Einstein thought it would.  
"That should be all of them," he said, right before the shelter blew up behind them.  
Callisto felt sadness fill her heart. Her home was gone. But she was very happy to see her three friends were okay. Nobody got hurt, that was important. They would get by like they always did. "Thank you so much," she told Pietro.  
"No problem," Pietro said.  
"Are you alright?" Eric asked.  
"Yeah, I'm fine," he nodded.  
"Well, I'm glad you didn't get torn to pieces."  
The way Eric said it, Pietro could feel he truly meant what he said. He was happy to see him back, unharmed. Could he tell him now? Even after what Eric said in the tunnels?  
"What you said in the tunnels...about not wanting a family, did you mean it?" Pietro asked, his voice very unsure and quiet.  
"Oh my God," Jean whispered, taking Logan's hand. "He's gonna tell him."  
"Why do you ask?" Eric frowned, surprised by the question.  
It was now or never for Pietro. He took a deep breath. "I ask because...because you still have a family. I am your son," he finally let out.  
Eric was stunned. His mouth was wide open, his expression a picture perfect definition of surprise. He recovered a little, and took a good look at Pietro's face.  
"Magda..." he said the name of Pietro's mother.  
Pietro nodded, not being able to speak anymore. Eric now knew for sure he never meant anything he said in the tunnels. Logan was right. It was the loved ones who made this hell worth it. Now he would try even more to secure a safe future for the mutants, he would do his best for his son.  
Eric placed his hands on Pietro's shoulders. He just risked his life, and not only saved the Morlocks, he also saved their public image. There were no casualties thanks to this brave man, and it was his son. His own blood.  
"I...I have never been so proud..." Eric said, choked up.  
Pietro embraced him, tears shamelessly falling down his face. He felt as if the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders, and Eric felt his heart open up again.  
Ororo and Jean teared up as they watched this touching, new found father/son union. Even Logan was moved, although he tried to play it cool. But Jean knew him too well.  
"What?" Logan asked as Jean gave him the all knowing look.  
Jean smiled, "Come here, you tough guy!" she said, and gave him a big hug.  
"I don't mean to ruin the moment, but I think we should go. You know, school, sentinels..." Ororo said.  
"Right," Eric said, regaining his composure.  
"Guys, look!" Pietro pointed at the camera crew running towards them.  
"Oh, great," Logan sighed. "Get us out of here, Quicksilver."  
"No, wait!" Jean said as she eyed the scared man next to Ororo. "I have an idea," a devilish smile appeared on Jean's face.  
"What ya thinkin', Red?" Logan asked.  
"I think I know how to make this one useful," she said.  
Jean manipulated the guy's brain into telling the cameras everything about the cold, calculated plan of Henry Gyrich. She made him talk about the secret factions in the government the poor guy didn't even know about. The whole world would know what happened before the truth could be twisted.  
"You truly are a clever one," Eric told Jean, this time really meaning it.  
"Jeannie, you're a genius!" Logan said, impressed. "Now get us out of here!" he told Pietro.

The group appeared in front of the X Mansion, and found the rest of the X-Men already standing there, all dressed in their uniforms.  
"What is going on?" Eric asked.  
"Look!" Raven pointed at the flying objects in the distance.  
"I looked out the window a while ago, and saw strange, flying objects in the distance," Hank said. "They seem to be heading over here."  
"They're starting early," Jean sighed.  
Logan looked up, and perfectly summed up their situation, "Well, shit..."


	20. Chapter 20

"I have to say, perfect timing!" Charles said cheerfully to the newly returned group.  
"Yeah, I can see that..." Eric said, looking at the approaching sentinels. There must have been dozens of them.  
"How did it go?" Charles asked about the rescue mission.  
"It went well, no casualties," Jean smiled.  
"Good," Charles nodded. "Do you all remember the plan?"  
"Us gettin' the suckers away from the school, and then Jean goin' all Phoenix on their asses?" Logan looked as if he couldn't wait for it to go down.  
"Something like that," Charles chuckled.  
"Got it," Logan said.  
Ororo noticed that Raven was holding knives. "What a coincidence, I just had a knife fight!" she said.  
Raven looked at her, a big question mark on her face.  
"I'll tell you later," Ororo said, waving her hand.  
"Are ya joinin' in this time?" Logan teased Eric.  
"I just might," Eric said mysteriously. He seemed like he had a plan.  
The sentinels were getting closer and closer. "Let's go meet them halfway. That way, we'll already have some distance covered, and won't have to drive them that much farther away," Hank said.  
"You're right, Hank," Charles said. "Off you go! Jean, you're staying with me. Help me get all the people in the area out of reach." Out of Phoenix's reach, he thought, but didn't say it out loud.  
Jean nodded, and walked over to Charles.  
"Ya got this, Jeannie," Logan encouraged her.  
"Give them hell," Jean said, touching his face. Logan pulled her close and kissed her passionately before he ran off with the others.  
Charles and Jean concentrated, trying to connect to as many minds as they could. Her telepathy must have evolved, for she never felt the presence of so many minds at once. Maybe it was the pressure that made her do so well. She hoped that she would display the same kind of control when it came to her Phoenix powers. For the sake of everything around her, that would better be the case.  
Ororo took off in the air, unleashing a mighty storm. "Starting early, I see," Pietro said, trying to lighten the mood.  
"Yeah! Didn't get to use my powers in a while," Ororo said.  
"Jubilee, I'll cover you the whole time," Kurt said.  
"Why, you worried I'll get in trouble again?" Jubilee said, remembering how he had to move her out of harms way.  
"No, I just wanna watch the fireworks!" Kurt said, smiling.  
Eric started to create a magnetic field around him. "What do you plan on doing with that?" Raven asked.  
"You'll see soon enough," Eric said, sounding confident.  
"Storm, let's take the ones on the left! Same approach as in training," Scott said.  
The sentinels were very close now. Some formed a row on the ground, and others stayed up in the air, towering over the rest of them. They formed a mutant killer wall.  
"Enough talkin', let's have some fun!" Logan popped his claws and ran straight at them.  
The X-Men tried to spread out. They didn't want to give the sentinels a chance of attacking them in a double envelopment. Scott move to the left, and blasted them without hesitation. He moved away quickly, as he saw energy beams forming in the sentinels' chests. Ororo flew in, and shot electricity at them from the top. Scott came in, and blasted the same ones yet again. Him and Ororo would follow the same pattern, driving them back, step by step, until the sentinels picked up on it.  
Raven's agility, quickness, and flexibility helped her in avoiding the attacks, and much like in practice, she was distracting them so Hank was able to strike. She tried to stab one of them, but it wasn't effective at all, and she barely avoided getting hit by another one as it drew sharp objects at her. "I'm okay! Keep going!" she told Hank as he stopped fighting to go check on her. Hank nodded and got back to work.  
Kurt kept grabbing the sentinels, and quickly transporting them into the path of Jubilee's fireworks. She kept aiming right on the chest, where they were able to form their own plasmoids. "Here's another one!" Kurt yelled as he put another sentinel in front of her. This one threw fireworks as well, and Jubilee jumped to the side. Sentinel missed, but he threw another one right at her. Kurt grabbed her and got her out of danger. "Thanks again!" she said.  
Logan took on the right wing with Pietro. Logan's power and Pietro's speed was a deadly combination. Pietro was able to run around them quickly, and hit several of them in seconds. Logan got caught with just about every kind of attack there was, he got hit, he got stabbed, he got blasted...but he healed, again and again, mercilessly stabbing and clawing away at the sentinels. His healing ability made it easier for him to go on without resting. A sentinel stabbed him in the arm, mirroring Logan's previous attacks. He waited till his arm healed and said, "That's all ya got?" and went on another clawing rampage.  
Some sentinels weren't getting up anymore, they seemed to be spent. But new ones behind them took their place. They were pushing them back successfully, but only little by little, and it was costing them a lot of energy. Hank looked behind him, Jean and Charles were doing well with getting people into safety. But they weren't far enough from the school to be able to bring Jean out, and end it all. "Not far enough," he sighed when Raven looked at him.  
Ororo and Scott had their hands full, as more and more sentinels started to come their way. There were so many, that they couldn't avoid being blasted. Or they wouldn't be able to avoid it, if it weren't for Pietro. He stepped in quickly, taking Ororo and Scott, and placing them safely next to Jubilee and Kurt. Then he grabbed two sentinels, and placed them where Ororo and Scott stood before. They all watched as the sentinels energy beamed two of their own. Unfortunately, part of the blast hit the school, and damaged a portion of it. "That was my room!" Jubilee yelled, furious as she threw fireworks at the one that did it.  
Raven was very tired. She wasn't able to move as quickly as before, and she absorbed a direct hit to the chest that sent her flying back. "Raven!" Hank yelled. She was unconscious. He saw a sentinel drawing something that looked like knives on some sort of a chain mechanism, aiming right at her. He ran to her as quickly as he could. He picked her up and tried to get out of the way, but a couple of those knives got him in the back. He held Raven in one arm, as he drew the knives out of his back with the other hand. He felt a sharp pain, and then nothing, everything slowly turning back. More sentinels approached them, they were about to get hit with more energy, when Eric stepped in front of them with his magnetic field. A strong magnetic field was able to influence the movement of electrons from the energy beam. Not only he was able to shield Raven, Hank, and himself, he was able to redirect the energy at the sentinels. He took out several of them at once, and gained more ground. "Hank!" Raven screamed as she woke up, finding Hank bleeding and unconscious. "Come on, Hank, wake up! Wake up! I love you!" she sobbed. "I'll take him to safety," Pietro said. He literally had to pry him out of Raven's hands. She didn't want to let him go. "I'll take him over to Charles, don't worry!" he said calmly.  
"Oh my God!" Jean covered her mouth in shock when she saw what shape Hank was in.  
"Will he be okay?" Pietro asked.  
Charles examined him quickly. "Hopefully, he's just passed out from the pain. Take him to Moira, she'll take care of him."  
Pietro did just that.  
Logan nearly cleared the right wing, and moved in to the left, where most of the sentinels were now concentrated.  
"We gotta push them back just a little bit more! Come on, we can do it" Ororo tried to motivate the tired X-Men.  
"Here, I'll show ya how it's done!" Logan said, stabbing a sentinel with his claws, picking him up, and slamming on the ground.  
The sentinels switched from energy beams to electricity now, and they seemed to have focused on Scott.  
"Cyke, watch out!" Logan yelled at Scott, who was helping Jubilee, and didn't realize he opened himself up.  
"Dammit, move!" Logan yelled as he pushed him away, but received a direct shot of lightning. He was still recovering from everything else that hit him earlier, and this shot finally dropped him.  
"Logan!" Jean cried out in anguish. She was about to run towards him when Charles stopped her. "No, Jean, not yet! He'll be okay, he'll heal!" he tried to assure her.  
Jean felt a wave of rage rise inside her. She stayed in place, but she telekinetically punished the sentinel that hurt Logan. She directed electricity back at it, sending it tumbling back. Flames appeared in her eyes.  
"No, no, no, no, no, control it! Hold on for just a little longer!" Charles pleaded.  
Scott dragged Logan out of immediate danger, and helped him up as he slowly started to recover. There was barely anything left of his uniform.  
"Wolverine, are you okay?" Scott asked.  
"Yeah...or more like I will be..." he said.  
"Thank you," Scott said with as much affection as he could possibly muster for Logan.  
"I told ya you can count on me," Logan said.  
"Duck!" Eric shouted. Logan and Scott looked behind them, and saw a car flying in their direction. They barely made it on the ground in time as the car, controlled by Eric, hit two sentinels square on.  
"Thanks for the heads up," Logan said. A touch of scolding noticeable in his tone.  
Ororo, Scott, and Jubilee managed to drive back a few more. Kurt grabbed two sentinels and dropped them off far from school.  
"That's it, they're far enough!" Charles said, excited. "Phoenix, you're up!" he told Jean. "Everybody pull back!" he told the group telepathically.  
Ororo took Jubilee, and Eric took Raven, and flew away from the sentinels. Logan and Scott held onto Kurt, who took them over to Charles.  
Jean sprinted towards the sentinels. There were still a lot of them left untouched, and some of the ones on the ground started to get up as well. Her heart was beating out of her chest. All the pressure was on her. The lives of her friends and innocent people were in her hands. "For Logan, for professor, for Scott, for Ororo, for Jubilee, for Hank, for Raven, for Pietro, for Kurt, for Eric..." she thought as she ran forward. The sentinels moved towards her, and she stopped running. She stood there all alone. One against an army. She spread her arms, and let out a deafening scream. Flames shot out of her eyes; they formed all around her body. She unleashed hell. A light brighter than a thousand stars carried feet and feet across. She released a force greater than anything anyone's ever seen in this world. And she released all of it. The tough, durable, improved sentinels started disintegrating like everything else that the Phoenix force touched. Piece by piece vaporized, vanished, gone. Nothing would remain of them. Jean was erasing them from existence. The mutants and humans watched in awe as a miracle was happening in front of their eyes.  
"Magnificent!" Eric gasped, as he's never seen anything like this before.  
The sentinels were gone. Gone to the last one. The work wasn't over for Jean, now she had to contain her amazing powers. Jean closed her eyes and thought of the man she first saw in that godforsaken place. She thought of the troubled man, struggling to control his temper, a man that altered time for her, a man that put himself in the line of fire to help her control her powers, a man who gave her hope, and peace. She thought of Logan, her Wolverine. The man she loved more than anything.  
Her scream has faded. The flames have disappeared. She did it. She saved her friends, the school, and possibly stopped a war from breaking out. Jean felt dizzy, lightheaded, exhausted. She slowly squatted down, and touched the ground with one hand to support herself.  
"Jeannie!" Logan ran up to her.  
"Jeannie, are ya okay?" he said, kneeling in front of her, rubbing her arms.  
Jean barely had the strength to raise her chin and look at him.  
"Logan?" she said, sounding very tired. "I saw you on the ground when..." she mumbled as she remembered the terrible image of him getting dropped with electricity. "Are you okay? I thought..." she squeezed his hand with what little strength she currently had.  
Logan took her in his arms. He let her rest on his shoulder. "I'm okay, Jeannie. I heal, did ya forget?" he said, and kissed the top of her head.  
"Ya did it, Jeannie. Ya did it. I'm so proud..." Logan whispered to her.  
The group came over to them.  
"How is she?" Scott asked, worried.  
"She'll be fine," Logan said.  
They all sat down, giving their aching muscles and minds a rest. It was over. It was all over. They could take a breath, and not worry about anything. At least for a while.


	21. Chapter 21

Logan held Jean's arm, and slowly helped her get off the ground. She looked around. The school still stood, except for Jubilee's room and a couple others. Everyone was there, but Hank, Raven, and professor. That's when she remembered Pietro bringing Hank over to them. "Hank...how is he?" she asked, worried.  
"Moira and I took him back to school," Pietro said. "She's patching him up." Ironically, at his own office.  
"And Raven?" Jean saw her get hit as well.  
"She stayed with him. She's shaken, but she'll be alright," Pietro smiled.  
"How about the rest of you? Everybody okay?" Jean asked.  
They all nodded. Scott looked over to Logan. His bitter rival actually saved his life. And even if he never grew to like him, he would always be grateful for that. It was hard for him to see Jean with someone else, but at least that someone could be trusted, and counted on.  
"That thing you did with the magnetic field...that was badass!" Pietro told Eric.  
"Yeah, how did you do it?" Kurt asked, meaning the repulsion of the energy beams.  
"Where there's magnetism, there's electricity," Eric started. "I figured with a strong enough magnetic field, I could alter the movement of electrons around me. Thankfully, I was right," he said.  
"Magneto savin' someone for once. Who would have thought?" Logan smirked.  
"You're never gonna let this go, are you?" Eric sighed. He knew Logan meant their little almost-drowning incident.  
"Ya can bet on that," Logan said. Though he wasn't serious anymore, just poking fun at him.  
Eric shook his head, and smiled. He looked over to his son, and felt as if now he could truly start over. Whatever came next, they would face it together.  
"And you, how you made those sentinels destroy each other!" Eric told Pietro.  
Pietro smiled, hearing his father talk proudly about him. "Oh, that's nothing. How about Jean putting on a spectacular light-show for us?" he joked.  
"And I thought I had the best fireworks in the group!" Jubilee said.  
"Yeah, Logan, you better keep her happy," Eric chuckled.  
"Plannin' on it," Logan said as he wrapped his arm around Jean.  
"How about you, taking on so many of them!" Jean said, looking at Logan. "You're a machine!" she said excited.  
"Ya haven't seen nothin' yet..." Logan winked.  
They talked about the most vivid moments of the battle for a while. They still couldn't quite believe what just happened, what they were able to do, and how much it meant on the grand scale of peace between humans and mutants.  
"Let's go inside!" Eric pointed at the school. "Let's see how Mystique and Beast are doing." He wanted to find out how Hank was, but he really wanted to see Raven. He could still see her lying there motionless, and he needed to see that she was okay, that she was happy. Even if it meant seeing her happy with Hank.

"Oh, my room..." Jubilee sighed sadly, as they walked by the damaged portion of the school.  
"Nothing we can't fix," Jean put a hand on Jubilee's shoulder, and looked over to Eric.  
They walked in, and looked around as if it were their first time there. It wasn't just their school, it was their home, their safe haven.  
"I never want to leave this place!" Kurt said.  
"Me neither," Pietro said. He looked at Eric and remembered how he left last time, and didn't come back for years. He really hoped he would stay this time.

Hank lay in the same spot, he stitched up Jean just a few days ago. He seemed exhausted, but thankfully, he wasn't in a critical condition. Raven was right by his side, holding his hand.  
"Welcome back!" Charles said cheerfully. "Congratulations! All of you were truly amazing," he said with a big smile. There were no words to describe how proud he was.  
"How is he?" Ororo asked.  
"Tired. Fortunately, the knives didn't puncture any lethal spots. I just had to clean the wounds, and stitch him up. Now all he needs is rest," Moira said.  
"And you? How are you?" Eric asked Raven, his tone soft.  
"Bruised," Raven frowned, but smiled afterwards. "But I'm fine. Thank you for shielding us out there. If it weren't for you..."  
"There's nothing to thank for, I owed it to you ever since..." Ever since he nearly killed her all those years ago. But he knew he would have shielded her anyway. She knew it, too.  
"It's okay, Eric. It doesn't matter anymore. It stopped mattering a long time ago," she said, sensing his guilt.  
Eric closed his eyes and thought back on everything he ever did. How could it not matter anymore? How could they ever forgive him? How could he ever forgive himself?  
"Raven's right. Don't worry about the past," Logan said, and patted him on the back. Logan's gesture let Eric know that he was finally letting their incident go.  
"Using electromagnetism to manipulate the motion of subatomic particles...excellent idea," Hank mumbled, still half asleep.  
"Shhh, you need to rest," Raven whispered, and kissed him.  
"Thank you, Hank, I appreciate it," Eric said.  
"Come on, let's give them some space!" Jean said.  
They all left, leaving Hank and Raven alone in the room.

Jean and Eric stood in front of the mansion, and telekinetically started repairing Jubilee's room, and everything else that was damaged.  
"I'm having a serious deja-vu," Jean said as she remembered how the two of them repaired the school last time after it exploded.  
"Me too," Eric laughed. "Last time, I thought it was only a matter of time until you bring it down. I never saw your powers, but I knew they were incredible. Capable of destroying more than just one building."  
"And what do you think now?" Jean asked, intrigued.  
"I don't just think that your powers are capable of incredible things, I think you're capable of controlling them, using them for incredible things," he said.  
"I had a lot of help to get me to this point," Jean said.  
"Logan?" he asked even though he knew the answer.  
"Yes," Jean couldn't help but smile when she heard his name.  
"You don't worry you might lose him someday?" Eric asked.  
"Why do I have a feeling this is more about Pietro than Logan?" Jean raised her eyebrows.  
"I admit, I'm just trying to understand how it's possible for you two to be so happy after all you've seen. You were right in the tunnels. I am afraid of experiencing another loss," he not only finally admitted it to Jean, but to himself as well.  
"I know what you've been through. I've felt your pain," Jean said with compassion. "If I ever lost him, I would be devastated. My whole world would be torn down. But all the pain would be worth just one of the beautiful moments we shared. And I won't let fear spoil any future beautiful moments we'll share. And you shouldn't, either," Jean told him everything he needed to hear.  
Eric nodded. She was right yet again.  
"And one more thing. Forgive yourself already!" she insisted.  
"Are you in my head?" he scolded.  
"No, I can tell from the way you look at Raven, and Logan."  
"That might take a while," Eric sighed. "I'll work on it though," he smiled, and placed the last piece of metal in place. The school was fixed.  
"Wow, you already fixed it! Thank you guys!" Jubilee said, walking over to them.  
"You're welcome!" Jean and Eric said in unison.  
Pietro came up to Eric. "How are you?" Pietro asked concerned. Seeing Raven and Hank must have been painful to him.  
"You know what? I actually feel better than I have in a long time," he smiled.  
"Good to know. So what do you plan on doing now that the sentinels are gone?" Pietro worried that Eric might leave once again.  
"I don't know...maybe we should think of something to do together," Eric said, and Pietro sighed with relief.

"Ya missed a spot!" Logan joked when Jean checked out Eric's and hers telekinetic reconstruction.  
Jean laughed, and lightly hit him in the arm. She thought of her answer to Eric's question.  
"Don't ever scared me like that again," she said as the horrible image of him on the ground returned to her.  
Logan smiled, and studied her for a good while. "Did I tell ya how gorgeous ya look in this uniform?" he said.  
He did, but she'd never get tired of hearing it.  
"I love you, Logan," she said, pulling him close.  
"I love you, too, Jeannie."


	22. Chapter 22

"So? What's the world saying?" Ororo asked, coming over to the living room where everyone watched the news.  
"You haven't missed much. They only showed the blown up bomb shelter so far," Pietro said, and moved a little to make room for her on the couch.  
Callisto's face appeared on screen. "Look, that's Callisto!" Pietro said. Ororo tapped him on the arm lightly to keep him quiet.  
"I wouldn't be talking to you if it wasn't for the five mutants that came to warn us. They saved our lives," Callisto said.  
Ororo smiled. Millions of people would hear this. They would hear that they're not bloodthirsty individuals, and that they use their powers for good.  
"That cute silver haired man got us out just in time..." Annalee said, really emphasizing the word "cute".  
"Looks like you have a fan!" Kurt laughed, looking at Pietro.  
"Ha-ha-ha..." Pietro said flatly.  
"Oh, this will be good," Jean rubbed her hands together when the camera now turned to the runner.  
"It was the head of The Commission on Superhuman Activities, Henry Gyrich. He...he forced me to help him. He threatened to kill me if I didn't..." the man nearly broke down in tears. "These mutants saved them, and spared my life. I'm so sorry..."  
"This is your doing, huh?" Raven asked as she turned to Jean.  
"Damn, Jeannie, ya sure can mess with a guy's head," Logan said, partially meaning himself.  
"Brilliant, Jean!" Charles applauded.  
They showed a picture of the man responsible for all this. "There he is! Pathetic scum!" Eric said disgusted.  
The reporter talked about how he's being investigated, but so far hasn't been arrested for the lack of evidence. "Lack of evidence, the guy just told you!" Raven said frustrated.  
"Lots of people are outraged by this appalling act, and ask for a punishment for Henry Gyrich, if he truly is guilty. But there's a significant fraction of people applauding the act," the reporter said.  
"Sickening!" Jubilee said.  
"They could have killed humans as well, not just us! Who can possibly applaud this?" Ororo asked shocked.  
"Somebody who's messed up in the head..." Logan grumbled.  
"She did say a lot of people are appalled," Jean said. "That's good! The momentum is shifting our way," she tried to make them see the positive side.  
"But what about the "significant fraction"?" Scott asked.  
"They're on the wrong side of history, and they know they're losing. They're just trying to go down swinging," Jean said.  
"I could very well help with that..." Logan said, making Jean smile.  
"Hi everyone!" Hank slowly walked into the living room.  
"Hank!" Raven got up quickly. "You're not supposed to be here!" she said, taking his arm to support him.  
"I'm glad to see you, too!" he laughed.  
"I meant...you're supposed to be resting," she said calmly.  
"I can rest right here," he said. She slowly helped him sit down.  
"Hi Hank, how are you?" Eric asked.  
"Good, thanks to you," he smiled.  
Eric shook his head as if to say "no problem".  
"Well, what are they saying about us?" Hank asked as he looked at the TV.  
"Looks like most of the people are with us. Not all of them though," Jean summarized.  
"Can't please them all," Hank shrugged.  
They played a short video. It was Jean utilizing her powers. Someone filmed it from quite a distance, but it was clearly her.  
"Wow, and I missed it!" Hank sighed.  
"I wonder why the press didn't come talk to us when they were there," Ororo said.  
"They wanted no part of this gorgeous badass here," Logan said, and kissed Jean's cheek. Jean smiled, and squeezed his hand.  
"We should talk to them," Scott said. "If they're still scared of us, we need to call them up and tell them our side of the story."  
"Surprisingly, not the stupidest idea I've ever heard..." Logan teased, but he actually was a little surprised. Cyke with a half decent idea? That sure didn't happen all that often.  
"I'm glad you say that," Charles said.  
The group was so into the discussion, they didn't notice the professor leave the room and come back.  
"Why? What did you do, Charles?" Eric knew that look. Charles already already had a plan in motion.  
"I requested a live television debate with Henry Gyrich," he said.  
"You what?" Eric blurted out surprised.  
All of them were stunned, they didn't move an inch for a few seconds.  
"Ya really wanna talk to that asshole?" Logan asked.  
"Not any more, than you, really," he said.  
"What makes you think he'll even debate you?" Eric asked.  
"It'll be all over the news that I asked to talk to him, one on one. He's a prime suspect of blowing up the shelter, and nearly destroying our school. If he doesn't accept, not only it'll make him look guilty, it'll make him look like a coward," Charles said.  
"If he accepts, do you think he'll debate you reasonably?" Jean asked.  
"No, not at all," Charles chuckled.  
"And you want to show that to people," Jean smiled, seeing where he was going with this.  
Charles looked at all of them. They were starting to like the idea.  
"Scott is right, we need to tell them our story. We need them to connect with us," he paused as everybody nodded in agreement. "I'll make them realize there is no reason to fear us, while he..." Charles searched for the right words.  
"Makes an ass out of himself," Logan said.  
"Yes, thank you Logan," Charles said.  
For that relatively short time Logan's been with them, Charles liked him just as mush as the rest of them. He was a valuable teammate, and even though he never said it, he knew that Logan would do anything for them. For Jean especially.  
"Why is it always the telepaths with the best logic?" Pietro asked.  
"He started it; we'll end it. Peacefully," Charles said determined.  
The X-men sat in silence, looking at one another, smiles slowly forming on their faces. They didn't have to fight anymore. All that was left to do was Charles being the voice of reason, and he would be. For the first time ever, they all believed that peace was within their reach. 


	23. Chapter 23

The X-Men took their seats in the front row as they prepared to watch their beloved professor duke it out with their enemy.  
"Wow, look at this crowd!" Pietro said. There were hundreds and hundreds of people in the room with them.  
"Why wouldn't anybody sit in the front row?" Jubilee asked.  
"They know we're mutants, they left it open for us so they can catch our reactions on camera clearly," Eric said. He somehow both adore, and despised Jubilee's naivety. She represented everything sweet that could be hurt by the cruel world he knew.  
"This is gonna be a pain in the ass," Logan grumbled. There was no doubt in his mind that he would have to listen to hateful nonsense this ignorant halfwit was about to spill.  
"I know, but we have to go through with it," Jean said. "You can't just claw your way through all the problems," she smiled.  
"Wanna bet, Red?"  
"No! With your determination, you would eventually succeed in anything," she admitted. "But please, just go with it tonight. I'll make it up to you," she whispered.  
Logan turned to her, his curiosity sparked. "Damn, Jeannie, ya know I can't refuse anythin' to ya," he said, his thoughts wondering about how exactly she was going to make it up to him.  
"Is anybody else nervous?" Ororo asked.  
"I'm not. I know professor will do fine," Scott said.  
"I know he will, it's just...the people's reactions. I don't know what to expect," she said.  
Jean could sense a lot of mixed emotions in the room, but she wasn't going to let her know.

Charles and Henry made their way to the long table in the middle of the stage, as the moderator called them up. Jean felt the tension and anticipation in the audience. She then looked at the stage. She felt fear, and it wasn't coming from Charles.  
"The guy's afraid," Jean whispered to Logan.  
"He should be," he said. "Maybe this won't be such a pain in the ass after all!" he said excited.  
"Thank you, gentlemen, for joining us," the moderator said.  
"Gentleman, my ass!" Logan whispered, staring Henry down.  
"Mr. Gyrich, many people think that you were responsible for the attack on mutants. How would you like to respond to that?" moderator asked.  
"I'd like to start with that I am sorry what these mutants had to go through..." he said with as much fake politeness and compassion as he could muster.  
"Bullshit!" Logan whispered. Jean squeezed his hand to calm him down.  
"But I had nothing to do with it," Henry added.  
"Mr. Xavier, would you like to say something to that?" moderator asked.  
"Yes, I would. If you had nothing to do with it, why did the man at the bomb shelter say your name?" Charles asked calmly.  
"Well, the man seemed very unstable...he was crazy, he could have said anyone's name..." Henry said.  
"But he said YOUR name," Charles added.  
"Perhaps he, or someone he knew tried to get a job from me, and I refused," Henry said, trying to make it look like an act of vengeance.  
"Mr, Gyrich, that sounds like an awful lot of trouble to go through just because of a job opportunity," moderator said.  
"Even she's catchin' up on his bullshit..." Logan said. Jean had to shush him again.  
"He probably hated mutants and needed somebody to blame it on. He then regretted his actions, and did not want to take responsibility for them," Henry said, throwing his hands in the air, as if this was an obvious conclusion to this whole situation.  
"Mr. Xavier, anything to say?" moderator said.  
"I know you're familiar with the name "Bolivar Trask"," Charles said. Playtime was over and it was time to get down to business. "Just in case I need to remind anyone of him," Charles said, looking at the audience. "He was arrested more than a decade ago for selling military secrets. He was also the one who created the sentinels - creatures specifically designed to target and kill mutants. He was your close friend, am I correct?"  
The whole room was dead silent. They all intensely stared at Henry, wondering if and how he could get himself out of this.  
"Mr. Gyrich, were you close friends with Bolivar Trask?" moderator asked when Henry didn't answer Charles' question.  
"I was..." Henry said quietly.  
"Did you share his personal opinions about mutants?" moderator asked.  
"No, I did not," Henry lied.  
"You helped him with his research," Charles said. "What else would you think of us?"  
Henry, now pushed in the corner had no other choice but to admit it. "At the time, I shared his opinion. But I changed my mind," he said, trying to save what was left of his integrity.  
"What exactly did you think? What did your incarcerated friend tell you about us?" Charles asked, leaving the moderator out of the conversation.  
"Don't talk about him!" Henry said, losing his cool.  
"Your friend tried to kill us, and he betrayed this country. I would like to know why you shaped your opinions based on what he believed in," Charles continuously kept hitting the soft spot.  
Henry knew he was done. More evidence would eventually come forward about his research, people he worked with would betray him to save themselves. He would be prosecuted, and found guilty. Now he had nothing to lose.  
"All he did was try to save us from you! From this mutant plague!" he pointed at the X-Men in the first row.  
"Asshole!" Logan tried to get up, and Jean had to restrain him with her telekinesis.  
"Hang on, Logan," she said softly.  
"Look at them! Do you want this to become of us? Freaks polluting the gene pool? Did you forget we got nearly destroyed by Apocalypse?" Henry shouted.  
"We stopped him! We saved as many people as we could!" Charles said, passion ringing in his voice. "I am not going to deny that there are bad mutants among us, but they don't speak for all of us! Just like you don't speak for humans. The dearest thing in my life is a human, and she's sitting right there!" Charles pointed at Moira, who's eyes got instantly watery. "I love humans, and I would do anything to protect them, but you, sir, are a disgrace to humanity!" Charles said, trying to keep himself from shouting.  
Henry was furious. He had to be restrained by the guards as he tried to walk over to Charles. The audience was stunned, and nearly all of them covered their mouth as the guards were leading Henry away.  
The moderator took a few breaths, and quietly asked Charles if he had anything to add.  
"I think this person wants to ask a question," Charles said, pointing at a woman in the audience. They brought a microphone over to her.  
"This woman in the front row," the woman said as she pointed at Jean. "I was by the school when it happened. She could have killed us all in an instant. But she didn't. None of them did," she said.  
"Of course she didn't. None of us would EVER do that," Charles said. "Can I just say one more thing?" he asked the moderator, who nodded quietly.  
"I know this is all very new to you. It's still very new to some of us as well. But this pointless conflict has to stop! Apocalypse did not speak for us, just like this man did not speak for you. We can't keep killing each other just because we're afraid of the unknown," Charles now thought back to when Logan traveled back in time and found him. How lost, and hopeless he was. "I need you...I need us to hope again. We all want the same thing, however different we might be. I know you're all tired of how the things have been, and so are we. We all want a better world for our children where they can be accepted as who they are. Where they can thrive and evolve their skills and abilities. We will stand with you, and help create that world."  
The woman who just spoke about Jean stood up and clapped. More and more people joined in, even the moderator.  
Moira ran on the stage and hugged Charles tight, as the X-Men hugged one another in front of the stage.  
"See? That wasn't so bad!" Jean told Logan.  
"Better than I thought it would be," Logan admitted. "Ya still "makin' it up" to me though, right?" he asked mischievously.  
Jean laughed, looked at him with a spark in her eye and nodded "yes".


	24. Chapter 24

Final Chapter

"Whenever we need someone to deliver a mental ass whoopin', we'll think of ya, Charles," Logan said.  
"Seriously, that was insane!" Pietro said, raising his hands in the air to express how amazing it was.  
"Did you see the guy's face when professor called him "a disgrace to humanity"?" Jean said. It still gave her chills when she thought of professor's calm demeanor, yet he said it with so much intensity, it made everyone in the room skip a beat.  
"Thank you, everyone," Charles said. "And I don't mean just for that. Thank you for everything you've done in the recent days. And all the years." After all they've been through, they weren't just his students, they were his family.  
"You can always count on us, Charles," Eric smiled. The rest of them nodded.  
"Do you think he'll finally get arrested?" Jubilee asked.  
"I'm sure he will. He probably already did," Ororo said.  
"Now he can share a cell with his buddy Trask," Logan said, making everyone laugh.  
"The "significant fraction"..." Scott started. "Do you think this debate persuaded them?" he asked, thinking back on when they watched the news after the attack.  
"Some of them, I'm hoping," Charles said optimistically. "We still have a lot of work to do, but we're on the right track."  
They stood there in silence for a little while, still processing everything that happened recently.  
"You know what? This requires a drink!" Kurt said, and rushed over to the bar.  
"See, I taught ya well!" Logan said.  
"You're a bad influence, you know that?" Jean teased. Logan shrugged his shoulders, his expression something along "what can I do, I'm awesome".

Jean and Logan stayed with the group for a while, but disappeared as soon as they had the chance. Jean took him by the hand, and ran to her room with him. "Wow, ya really wanna make it up to me..." Logan said when Jean slammed the door shut. She embraced him, and kissed him desperately. They were so close, there wasn't an inch of space between them.  
Jean's hands roamed around Logan's strong body. As she felt his erection against her, she quickly started to take his clothes off. Seeing Jean so hungry for him made Logan lose control, and he ripped her dress off so he could feel her beautiful hot body against him. He felt Jean's heart beat against his, her soft skin gently caressing his own. Logan's hand made it's way down her back. He squeezed her butt firmly, making Jean let out a moan. He then rubbed her thigh up and down, as he put her leg up against his hip. Logan picked her up, and let her fall down on the bed. He took a good look at her. She was already breathing heavily. A strand of her hair lying on her lips moving away and towards her mouth, as she breathed with anticipation. Logan lay on top of her. He brushed her hair away, and kissed her lips. His tongue circled around Jean's, their kiss becoming more and more passionate. He bit her lower lip lightly, and moved on to her neck. Logan cupped her breast as his lips and tongue worked on her neck. Jean closed her eyes and moaned, fully enjoying the wet sensation Logan created on her neck, and between her legs.  
Jean slightly turned her hips to the side, she wrapped her leg around his, held onto him, and moved up and to the side to reverse the position.  
"Jean!" Logan said surprised, a huge smile appearing on his face as he looked at Jean now on top of him.  
Jean smiled back, and kissed his lips once again, before she started to explore his body with her mouth. Jean's soft, wet lips on his neck, chest, and stomach spiked Logan's adrenaline up. As the anticipation was getting unbearable for him, Jean slowly took him in her mouth. Her tongue lightly massaged the tip, teasing him a little before taking him in her mouth again, as much as she could manage.  
He grabbed a handful of Jean's hair as he felt her lips move up and down his considerable length. "Oh, Jeannie," he moaned as she was able to take in more and more of him.  
He let her continue for a little while longer before the urge to be inside her grew too strong. He wanted her to feel what he felt. He wanted to take her, pleasure her until they both reached the point of total exhaustion.  
He picked her off the bed, and carried her up against the wall. Logan smelled her arousal. She was so hot and bothered. "Ah, Jean, ya so ready for me..." he whispered as he finally entered her wet, tight opening. Jean locked her legs around waist, and held onto his shoulders. He rubbed her clit with his thumb, adding to her delight. He let her moan into his mouth, enjoying her hot breath mixing with his. Logan picked up speed, making Jean bury her nails in his shoulders. "Jeannie, darlin', ya almost there..." Logan said when he felt her tensing up.  
"Logan...oh, Logan...cum with me..." she pleaded. He held onto her hips firmly, and really let her have it. His strokes were fast and deep and rough, and so good. Jean's moans turned into screams. She screamed so loud, it nearly hurt Logan's ear, but it was the only sound he wanted to hear. "Yeah, Jeannie, scream. Scream for me," he said. And she did as they both found release. Her muscles throbbing around him as he filled her up completely. Jean was exhausted. She rested her head against his shoulder, trying to catch a breath. Logan had to support himself against the wall with one arm, as he still held Jean in the other.  
He let her down gently. He took her face in his hands, and looked into her beautiful eyes as he was still breathing hard. Neither one was them was able to speak for a while, but words didn't matter. All Logan ever wanted was Jean in his arms. And there she was. It still seemed like a dream to him.  
Jean caressed his cheeks and took a good look at a man who changed the future for her, twice. And she loved him dearly just like he loved her. Now they were finally free to enjoy the future Logan fought so hard to secure.

Thanks everyone for reading these! :)  
Very special thanks to theloveanomaly for making me update every day! ;)


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